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STATUS, TRADEDYNAMICS AND

MANAGEMENT OF THESOUTHEAST ASIAN

BOX TURTLECUORA AMBOINENSIS

IN INDONESIA

SABINE SCHOPPE

A TRAFFIC SOUTHEAST ASIA REPORT

Published by TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

© 2009 TRAFFIC Southeast Asia

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TRAFFIC Southeast Asia

Suggested citation: Sabine Schoppe (2009). Status,

trade dynamics and management of the Southeast

Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia

TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

ISBN 9789833393213

Cover: Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis

Photograph credit: Chris R. Shepherd/TRAFFIC Southeast Asia

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia

STATUS,TRADE DYNAMICS AND MANAGEMENT

OF THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN BOX TURTLE CUORA

AMBOINENSIS IN INDONESIA

Sabine Schoppe

Shell and skeleton of museum specimen of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle atthe Zoological Museum in Cibinong, Java

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements iii

Glossary and acronyms iv

Executive summary viii

Introduction 1

Methodology 5Biology and ecology of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle 5Conservation status 5Laws and regulations for the conservation of freshwater turtles in Indonesia 5Quantity and quality of trade of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle 6

Past trade levels 6Trade surveys 6

Alternative production systems 8Population studies and abundance 8

Population survey 8Harvest survey 12Harvest impact surveys 15

Results and discussion 16Habitat 16Role in the ecosystem 18Morphology 18Growth and reproduction 21Conservation status of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle 22Laws and regulations for the conservation of freshwater turtles in Indonesia 22

The quota system 23Purpose of export 27Permits and procedures 28

Quantity and quality of trade of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle 34Past trade levels 34Current trade levels 39

Alternative production systems 62Abundance of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in the wild 66

Population survey 66Harvest survey 68Harvest impact 71

Conclusions 74

Recommendations 76

References 80

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Most and foremost the researcher would like to acknowledge the donor agencies such as the British HighCommission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the US State Department who financed this study as part ofthe projects “The Use of Science in CITES Decision Making” and “Putting Science into CITES - EnhancedScientific Rigour in Wildlife Trade Management Decision Making”.

She also would like to thank her local counterparts, research assistants, guides and translators, especiallyIr. Mumpuni and Awal Riyanto of LIPI, Nuryani Widagti and Dian Oktaviani of IPB/UI, and Nenny, Harry,Hari, Daud, Agus, and Emy.

Thanks also to all government and non-government organizations, the academe and private persons who inone or another way contributed to this report, especially to Pak Sancoyo Atmosoekarto, and Pak RubenSilitonga of LIPI; Pak Adi Susmianto, Head PHKA-KKH, Samedi and Ibu Faustina Hardjanti of PHKA-KKH; Pak Djati Witjaksono Hadi, Head BKSDA Sumut I and his staff; Pak Luhut, Head BKSDA SumutII and his staff; Pak Sugiman, Head of Fish Quarantine in Medan; Ir. Abdul Wahid, Head of FishQuarantine Bajarmasin; Dr. Ir. Mas Tri Djok Sunarno, Head of Fish Quarantine Palembang; WWFIndonesia, Conservation International Indonesia, Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, LeiserInternational Foundation, Cikananga Animal Rescue Centre, and Ibu Mirza and Ibu Ani of IPB. Thank youto all traders, most especially to George Saputra, Chairman of IRATA. Thanks also the staff of TNRAW,especially to Puto Sutarya, park ranger in Aopa. Thanks to Olaf Neussner of INVENT, Philippines forassisting in the early map design.

Thanks to Peter Paul van Dijk, Edward O. Moll and many other members of the IUCN/SSC Tortoise andFreshwater Turtle Specialist Group who shared information. Thanks also to friends and colleagues atTRAFFIC SEA for their valuable inputs, reviews, assistance in layout and map design most especially toChris Shepherd, James Compton, Azrina Abdullah, Mark Auliya, Julia Ng, Sandrine Pantel, and NoorainieAnak. The researcher would like to express her particular thanks to all peer reviewers, especially Peter-Paul van Dijk of Conservation International, Kate Sanders of University of Adelaide, Australia, andSteve Broad and Julie Gray of TRAFFIC International.

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia iii

GLOSSARY AND ACRONYMS

Adult – The life history stage that comprises sexually mature individuals that express external sexualdimorphism.

Anon. – Anonymous.ANOVA – Acronym for the statistical analysis called ‘Analysis of Variance’, whereas variance is the square

of standard deviation. Article IV – Under the Convention text of CITES (see below) concerning the regulation of trade in

specimens of species included in Appendix II. The export of any specimen of a species includedin Appendix II shall require the prior grant and presentation of an export permit. An export permitshall only be granted when the following conditions have been met: (a) a Scientific Authority ofthe State of export has advised that such export will not be detrimental to the survival of thatspecies; (b) a Management Authority of the State of export is satisfied that the specimen was notobtained in contravention of the laws of that State for the protection of fauna and flora; and (c) aManagement Authority of the State of export is satisfied that any living specimen will be so prepared and shipped as to minimize the risk of injury, damage to health or cruel treatment.

Assurance population – Here referring to those populations of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle that are protected and that live under conditions that provide nutrition, mates and an environment thatallows population growth.

Barat – Bahasa Indonesia meaning “west”.BKSDA – Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam, the provincial offices of the PHKA (see below).By-catch – Here referring to species or specimens caught in a catch intended to target another species, as

well as reproductively-immature juveniles of the target species. By-pack – Here referring to adding specimens of a non-target species to a shipment of a target species if

there is still available space.Category I – One of three categories for species under Review of Significant Trade. A Category I species

is considered a species of urgent concern and shall include species for which the available information indicates that the provisions of Article IV, paragraph 2 (a), 3 or 6 (a), are not beingimplemented.

CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.Commensal – Here referring to turtle species that are commensals of man, meaning turtles that inhabit

anthropogenically disturbed habitats. Consumption trade – Here trade in the Southeast Asian Box Turtle for food.Direktorat Jenderal – Indonesian term for Directorate General.DKP – Departemen Kelautan Dan Perikanan, the Indonesian Department of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.Export quota – Annual limit on the number or quantity of specimens of a particular species that may be

exported from the country concerned within a 12-month period. F1 – First-generation offspring, the progeny produced in a controlled environment from parents at least one

of which was conceived in or taken from the wild. F2 – Second-generation offspring, the progeny produced in a controlled environment from parents that

were both also produced in a controlled environment. Femorals – Second to the last plates on the turtle plastron. Hatchling – A life history stage. Here for the Southeast Asian Box Turtle defined as the stage from

hatching until the egg tooth is lost, which is usually 10-19 days after hatching. IATA – International Air Transport Association, which has created standards for the transport of live

animals by air.

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia iv

ID – IndonesiaIkan – Bahasa Indonesia meaning “fish”.Ind. – Individual.Indonesian Box Turtle – English name of the subspecies C. amboinensis couro that occurs on Java and

Sumatra. Here the term Indonesian Box Turtle will be used if the statement is only valid for thesubspecies C. amboinensis couro.

Introduction from the sea – Transportation into a State of specimens of any species which were taken inthe marine environment not under the jurisdiction of any State.

IPB – Bogor Agricultural University.IRATA – Indonesian Reptile and Amphibian Trade Association. Members of this organisation are allowed

to trade the Southeast Asian Box Turtle for the international pet trade only.IUCN – The World Conservation Union.Jabar – Java Barat (Bahasa), West Java.Jateng – Java Tenggah (Bahasa), Central Java.Jl. = Jalan – Bahasa Indonesia meaning “street”.Juvenile – The life history stage after hatchling and before subadult when external sexual dimorphism is

not yet established. Kabupaten – Bahasa Indonesia for “district”Kalbar – Kalimantan Barat, West Kalimantan.Kalsel – Kalimantan Selatan, South Kalimantan.Kalteng – Kalimantan Tengah, Central Kalimantan.Kaltim – Kalimantan Timur, East Kalimantan.Karantina Hewan – Animal Quarantine.Karantina Ikan – Fish Quarantine.KKH – Konservasi Keanekaragaman Hayati, the division within the Department of Forestry that has,

among other functions, the responsibility for operational implementation of Indonesia’s CITESManagement Authority.

Kura Kura – Bahasa Indonesia, the general term for “hard-shelled turtles”.Labi Labi – Bahasa Indonesia, the general Indonesian term for “softshell turtles”.LAR – Live Animals Regulations for IATA.LEMIS – Law Enforcement Management Information SystemLIPI – Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences.Location – If not otherwise indicated ‘location’ refers to the designated collection area within one province.MA – CITES Management Authority. A national management body designated in accordance with Article

IX of the Convention. The Management Authority is responsible for implementing the Conventionin its country. In particular, it is the only body competent to grant import and export permits andre-export certificates on behalf of that CITES Member Party. Even though a Party may designatemore than one Management Authority, one must be designated as the Management Authorityresponsible for coordinating the implementation of CITES with other Parties and the CITESSecretariat.

Malayan Box Turtle – English name of the subspecies C. amboinensis kamaroma that occurs on Borneo.In the following the term Malayan Box Turtle will be used if the statement is only valid for the sub-species C. amboinensis kamaroma.

MeCL – Median carapace length, measured in straight carapace length.NDF – Non-detrimental or non-detriment finding. A conclusion by a CITES Scientific Authority that the

export of specimens of a particular species will not negatively affect the survival of a species in the

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia v

wild. The non-detriment finding by a Scientific Authority is a prerequisite for the issue of anexport or import permit or a certificate for an introduction from the sea for a specimen of anAppendix-I species, and for an export permit or a certificate for an introduction from the sea for aspecimen of an Appendix-II species.

NGO – Non-government organisation.Normal distribution – In statistics a function that represents the probability or frequency distribution of

many random variables as a symmetrical bell-shaped graph.Pet trade – Here referring to the trade of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle for the purpose of keeping it as

pet. PHKA – Perlindungan Hutan dan Konservasi Alam, Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature

Conservation under the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia.Population – In accordance with CITES, the total number of individuals of a species.Precautionary Principle – A rule according to which pre-emptive conservation measures to avoid or

minimize a threat to a population of a species may be taken even when there is a lack of full scientific certainty as to the threat.

Protected species – Here referring to species that are protected under Indonesian law.Release – Here referring to the Chinese tradition of releasing one or several turtles to a temple or to the

wild believing that this will bring long life to the person performing the action. Review of Significant Trade – A CITES-mandated process in cases, where export levels for Appendix II

species are significant and/or considered to be of concern for conservation measures. ResolutionConf. 8.9 (Rev.) provides a mechanism whereby the CITES Animals or Plants Committee canreview the situation and formulate recommendations to ensure that the export is not detrimental tothe survival of wild populations of the species under review.

SA – CITES Scientific Authority. A national scientific advisory body designated in accordance with ArticleIX of the Convention. A Scientific Authority is responsible for providing technical and scientificadvice to its Management Authority, in particular as to whether the export or introduction from thesea of a specimen will be detrimental to the survival in the wild of the species involved. A Partymay designate more than one Scientific Authority.

SEA – Southeast Asia.Selatan – Bahasa Indonesia meaning “south”.Southeast Asian Box Turtle – English name for the species Cuora amboinensis that comprises four sub-

species. Here the term Southeast Asian Box Turtle will be used when referring to the species C.amboinensis in general.

Subadult – A life history stage used to classify immature individuals, which are sometimes also referred toas large juveniles or late juvenile. Subadults already express external sexual dimorphism.

Sulsel – Sulawesi Selatan (Bahasa), South Sulawesi.Sumatera – Indonesian spelling for the island of Sumatra.Sumsel – Sumatra Selatan (Bahasa), South Sumatra.Sumut – Sumatra Utara (Bahasa), North Sumatra.Sungai – Bahasa Indonesia meaning “river”.TCM – Traditional Chinese Medicine; this is one of the major reasons for trading the Southeast Asian Box

Turtle. Tengah – Bahasa Indonesia meaning “central”.Testudines – A taxon, expressing the “order” of all extinct and extant turtles, terrapins and tortoises.Timur – Bahasa Indonesia meaning “east”.TNRAW – Taman National Rawa Aopa Watomohai, a national park in Southeast Sulawesi.

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia vi

Tortoise – Term commonly used for terrestrial turtles not associated with wetland habitats.TRAFFIC – The wildlife trade monitoring network, a joint program of WWF and IUCN.Turtle – In this report applied to all Indonesian freshwater turtles and tortoises.UN – United Nations.USFWS – US Fish and Wildlife ServiceUNEP – United Nations Environment Program.Unprotected – Here referring to nationally unprotected species.Utara – Bahasa Indonesia meaning “north”.VES – Visual Encounter Survey, a method used to estimate densities of wild populations.Wallacean Box Turtle – English name of the subspecies C. amboinensis amboinensis that occurs on

Ambon, Buru, Batjan, Halmahera and Sulawesi. Here the term Wallacean Box Turtle will be usedif the statement is only applicable to subspecies C. amboinensis amboinensis.

WCMC – World Conservation Monitoring Centre, now known as UNEP-WCMC.WCS – Wildlife Conservation Society.Wet market – Here referring to daily or weekly markets that sell fresh products such as fish, meat and

vegetables.Wild population – In accordance with CITES: the total number of free-living individuals of a species

within its area of distribution.WWF – The global conservation organisation, also known as World Wide Fund for Nature and World

Wildlife Fund.

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia vii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis - one of 29 native freshwater turtles in Indonesia - isa globally vulnerable species and the survival of substantial populations in general is particularly threatened by the extensive international trade for consumption and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)to East Asian countries. In order to control the trade, the species and its congeners were included inAppendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES) in 2000. Prior to the export of Appendix II species from a country of origin, a so-called non-detriment finding (NDF) should be conducted to determine the number of individuals that can be harvested without a negative impact on the survival of wild populations. Such a finding should be the basisfor any annual harvest and export quota of the species. An NDF however requires knowledge on socio-economic factors and of species’ life history, distribution, population densities and threats.

Indonesia is the main supplier of Cuora amboinensis to the international meat, TCM and pet markets butno scientifically-based assessment has formed the basis for a NDF and the current national harvest quotaof 20 000 individuals per year is based on the export realisation of previous years rather than on the resultsof comprehensive scientific surveys. Considering the above, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia identified theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle as a heavily traded species to be used as a case study for science-based management, which could serve as a model for other CITES Appendix II species (particularly reptiles) intrade. The present study therefore aimed to review information on the biology and ecology of the SoutheastAsian Box Turtle, assess the legislation in place to regulate trade in wildlife especially in freshwater turtles and tortoises, identify past and current harvest and trade levels, and determine whether the abundance of the species has changed over time.

The literature review revealed that the Southeast Asian Box Turtle plays an undefined but likely importantrole in food webs of wetland ecosystems, and serves as seed disperser. Therefore, its temporary or permanent removal from its natural habitats leads to an imbalance of the ecosystem structure, the significance and consequences of which currently cannot be determined. The species has a low and relatively slow growth. The Southeast Asian Box Turtle has a low reproductive rate: in captivity, it mightreach maturity in four years and five months; in the wild it will take about 5½-6 years to attain maturity,and one female produces an average of only six eggs per year, three of which might reach juvenile stage.

The species is adaptable to man-made habitats which makes it very accessible for harvest. There are onlyvery few if any properly protected areas in Indonesia, whose turtle populations could serve as assurancecolonies. Despite being a commensal species, it is nowadays difficult to find a Southeast Asian Box Turtlein the wild near residential or agricultural areas in Indonesia. Its life cycle combined with continuous harvest for the food and TCM trade has led to over-exploitation of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle inIndonesia and to local extinction around trade centres.

The present study concentrated on harvest and trade centres in Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra and Kalimantanwas conducted from March to July 2006 and indicated a decline in the mean size of the Southeast AsianBox Turtle as a result of long-term over-exploitation of adults. In Indonesia, local utilization of the speciesis negligible but international trade for consumption and TCM is extensive and represents the major threatto the survival of the species. Illegal trade is extensive and includes all levels and kinds of traders such ascollectors, middlemen, suppliers and exporters of registered and unregistered companies. Also alarming is

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia viii

the extent of plastrons and carapaces illegally traded, which mostly remain undetected due to easy concealment.

The population size of the species in two hectare of a peat swamp forest in a protected area, the TamanNational Rawa Aopa Watomohai in the south-east of the island of Sulawesi was estimated to be 120 individuals or 60 individual/ha. The population composition in terms of immature to mature ratio wasalmost 1:1 (54.9% immature and 45.1% mature). Harvest surveys of the species in an openly accessiblearea in East Kalimantan have shown that four middlemen alone easily assemble more than half of thenation’s annual quota in one year. The composition of harvested individuals in the study site in KotaBangun, East Kalimantan was significantly in favour of large adults (95.8%) and contained only 4.2%immature individuals.

Most of the Indonesian registered pet traders stated that nowadays it is more difficult to get a certain number of individuals compared to some 5-10 years ago. Generally, populations of the Southeast AsianBox Turtle near centres of trade are over-exploited and in many cases, even locally extinct.

The main ports of illegal exports are Jakarta, Banjarmasin, Makassar, Tembilahan, Medan and Pekanbaru.Major international destinations are Hong Kong SAR, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia. Illegalexport in the species is believed to far exceed the number of individuals that can be legally exported (18000 individuals). The most conservative estimate is that illegal trade amounts to 10 times the volume oflegal trade, but probably it is rather 100 times the volume of legal trade. A total trade ban is not expectedto solve the problem of unsustainable harvest but illegal trade has to be eradicated to allow sustainablemanagement of this and other wildlife species.

Tortoises and freshwater turtles including the Southeast Asian Box Turtle may only be exported live fromIndonesia. The export of dead animals, parts (carapace or plastron) or derivatives is illegal under theIndonesian quota system. Some members of the CITES MA, especially at the provincial level are notaware of this. Export of dead specimens, parts and derivatives of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle fromIndonesia has increased since the species became listed in Appendix II. This trend seems to apply also toother freshwater turtle species that recently became CITES-listed. Furthermore, increased control of liveshipments has led to an increased volume of illegally traded shells. Many of the illegal shipments haveforged CITES export permits. Enforcement officers are insufficiently trained and/or do not check CITESpermits thoroughly. Illegal export of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle and other freshwater turtles fromIndonesia is possible because many shipments are not inspected, many law enforcement officers do notknow the conservation status of the different freshwater turtle species, and still cannot distinguish betweenthe different species.

Indonesia has a substantive enough legislative framework in place to govern the management of wildlifeharvest and trade, and it is comparatively stronger than that of many neighbouring countries.Unfortunately, the enforcement of these laws is very weak. None of the establishments that sold theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle for local utilization obtained the specimens from licensed collectors nor werethese outlets licensed to sell. The Indonesian CITES MA has a very detailed, complex and difficult licensing and permit system.

The quota setting in Indonesia is not science-based but driven by the demand from traders to supply importing countries especially those in East Asia where large volumes are consumed for food and traditional medicines. The distribution of the national quota among provinces is not related to local

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia ix

abundance nor to sustainability of trade but to the presence of a trader. Locations for harvest or capture arenot carefully selected based on biological and ecological assessments, but rather in accordance with thepreferred collection sites of the trader.

The fact that some freshwater turtle species fall under the jurisdiction of the PHKA (Directorate Generalof Forest Protection and Nature Conservation under the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia)while others are under the management of the DKP (Indonesian Department of Marine Affairs andFisheries), has led to considerable confusion and weakness in law enforcement.

Results of this study have shown that the exploitation of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in Indonesia hasreached a level that requires immediate action. Harvest needs to be regulated and illegal trade to be eradicated. For the sustainable management of the species in Indonesia, TRAFFIC recommends the following:

• The Indonesian CITES MA should strictly monitor export volumes / quantities, and enforce theexisting prohibition of the export of turtle shells and other derivates.

• Quarantine, customs, police and PHKA personnel at air and seaports should make more efforts ininspecting shipments especially those with destinations in East Asian countries, and especially thosedeclared ‘fish’, ‘seafood’, ‘snake skin or meat’, and ‘Red-eared-sliders’. Law enforcement agencies shouldconsider giving incentives in the form of awards or leave credits to enforcement agents for seizures.

• Makassar, Medan, Pekanbaru, Tembilahan and Banjarmasin are the ports of exports with the highest frequency and the highest volumes of illegally traded Southeast Asian Box Turtle. Tembilahan andBanjarmasin are not even designated ports of export for CITES-listed species thus all export of suchspecies from those ports is illegal. These ports and their shipments should receive special attention and bethoroughly and regularly inspected by BKSDA, police, customs, port authorities and quarantine officers.

• Instead of banning trade in the Southeast Asian Box Turtle, which would only negatively affectlegal traders, activities should focus on eradicating illegal trade through stricter law enforcement on theIndonesian side, and thorough control of CITES documents and origin of specimens on side of the importing countries. The cooperation with the CITES MA in China needs to be intensified to lower andfinally eradicate illegal trans-border trade. These kinds of focused activities would also have greaterchances of success if formalised under the existing co-operation between China and the ASEAN WildlifeEnforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN).

• The Indonesian CITES MA should officially seek assistance from the CITES MA of Asian importing countries especially those of Hong Kong SAR, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia.Indonesia should share details on ports of export, frequency of shipments, methods in concealing illegalshipment etc. with the other CITES authorities, police, customs and quarantine. As part of the ASEAN-WEN, Indonesia is encouraged to set up a multi-agency task force.

• The Indonesian CITES MA should revise and simplify its licensing and permit system. From capture to export there should be less permits involved, and those that are required should be thoroughlyand regularly inspected and compared with the content of the shipment by the various law enforcement andcustoms agents. Particularly, the provincial quotas from across the country allocated to each individual pettrader are nonsense and should be rescinded.

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia x

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia xi

• The Indonesia annual reports to the CITES Secretariat should reflect the actual number of exported specimens rather than the number for which permits were issued. This requires comparing permits issued at PHKA (CITES MA) with those used and filed at port of exits (BKSDS).

• Continual training of enforcement officers in species identification, conservation status of the different species and outline of CITES permits and legal loopholes in the management of CITES AppendixII listed species should be conducted through the efforts of interagency co-operation involving the CITESauthorities, NGOs, the academe.

• Skills to enforce the laws should be strengthened on all levels of all concerned agencies (PHKA,BKSDA, DKP, fish and animal quarantine, Customs, airport and seaport cargo personnel, police). Lack ofskills can easily be addressed through trainings, while the motivation and willingness to enforce needsencouragement from within the agencies concerned. Incentives in the form of awards, press-releases andleave credits should be considered as rewards for successful work of law enforcement officers.

• PHKA and DKP should work closely together in the management of CITES Appendix II-listed andlook-alike species. Awareness campaigns should not only target officers of all agencies involved in trade(PHKA, BKSDA, quarantine, Customs, sea and airport cargo personnel etc.) but also the public, providinginformation about rules and regulations, trade procedure, responsibility of the various offices. As a basisfor sustainable management of all traded wildlife species whether under PHKA or DKP, trade volumesshould be recorded on the species level.

• The CITES Authorities should discourage captive breeding of the Southeast Asian Box Turtles andother freshwater turtles and tortoises with a similar low reproductive output for the large-scale consumption and TCM market.

• The establishment of assurance colonies should be considered by the Indonesian CITESAuthorities. These could be established at governmental or private rescue centres, zoological gardens, orareas that are effectively protected from harvesting and other human impacts.

• The CITES SA should seek assistance from local universities in conducting field studies to assesspopulation sizes and composition in man-made versus natural habitats. Such analyses are needed for theproper management of the species. The method of such surveys/field studies could follow the methodology used in the present study.

• In making non-detriment findings, the particular biology of tortoises and freshwater turtles shouldbe taken into consideration. The harvesting of wild adults should be limited and precautionary because theremoval of slow growing, mature animals may have significant impacts on the viability of the populationthat is targeted. Although it may generally be perceived as preferable to harvest small (juvenile) individuals, it was noted that unlike in tortoises, the offtake of juveniles in wild populations of freshwaterturtles is relatively easy, that the removal of certain age classes may negatively impact wild populations,and that in practice, all age classes are often harvested. Also, juveniles do not necessarily or readily meetthe demand for turtles and tortoises in the food and medicinal markets.

• In the absence of quantitative data on local populations of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle criteriathat might indicate changes in the local abundance should be assessed and monitored to enable sustainable trade.

• Indicators of change are (Schoppe, 2008a):

1. If collection areas are getting increasingly further away from urban trade centres. 2. If catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) is decreasing.3. If threats other than trade are getting more severe.4. If the State/provincial/regional annual harvest quota is far from being realized.5. If harvest and export quotas are always realized (actual recorded volumes) to the maximum volume.6. If average size of individuals is reduced.7. If traded specimens are mainly adults.8. If the population structure of traded individuals is significantly in favour of one life history stage.9. If the sex ratio of any population is significantly different from 1:1 trends should becarefully monitored.

• In addition, potential indicators of illegal trade should be monitored:• If collection of the species is a fulltime business for collectors/trappers the probability that

the demand for the species is higher than the national quota is relatively high.• Sudden changes in the international market prices are usually indicators of illegal activity.

The price paid to legal sources of the species by main importing countries decreases oncean illegal shipment has arrived and undercut market prices.

• The suggested abundance indicators are relatively easy to obtain. Potential sources of informationare collectors, middlemen, suppliers, exporters, data from importing countries, the CITES Managementand Scientific Authorities in the country of export, published or unpublished reports, and grey literature.

• The above indicators should be assessed on an annual basis at the same time of the year and atthe same sites. Recommended are sites in trade centres such as Makassar, Medan, Pekanbaru, Tembilahanand Banjarmasin.

• Monitoring results should provide the basis for the establishment of provincial and national harvest and export quotas.

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia xii

INTRODUCTION

The study focused on the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis (Daudin, 1802) in the familyGeoemydidae, subfamily Geoemydinae (Spinks et al., 2004). In Indonesia, the Southeast Asian Box Turtleis one of 29 freshwater turtles and tortoises (Wibowo, 1999). The species occurs from the Nicobar Islands,Bangladesh (Khan, 1982), and Assam (Moll and Vijaya, 1986), south through Myanmar, Thailand,Cambodia, Viet Nam, and Malaysia, and east to Sulawesi, Ambon and the Philippines (Ernst et al., 2000).It is the most common turtle in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and on the island of Borneo (Lim and Das,1999). Four subspecies are currently recognized (Rummler and Fritz, 1991; McCord and Philippen, 1998):the Wallacean Box Turtle C. amboinensis amboinensis (Daudin, 1802) often referred to as East Indian BoxTurtle, the Malayan Box Turtle C. a. kamaroma Rummler and Fritz 1991, the Indonesian Box Turtle C. a.couro (Schweigger, 1812), and the Burmese Box Turtle C. a. lineata McCord and Philippen, 1998. Allexcept the latter occur in Indonesia (Figure 1).

The Wallacean Box Turtle is found on the islands of Ambon, Buru, Ceram, Batjan, Halmahera andSulawesi (Gaulke and Fritz, 1998; Nietzke, 1998). The Malayan Box Turtle occurs in Kalimantan and theIndonesian Box Turtle is found on Java, Sumatra and their small offshore islands (Rummler and Fritz,1991). According to Rummler and Fritz (1991), morphometric values such as the body ratios carapacelength : body height and carapace width : body height distinguish the subspecies. There are also believedto be subtle colour differences in the pattern of head stripes, the carapace colour, the extent of plastronblotches, and the expression of vertebral and lateral / costal keels.

Aside from habitat loss, illegal trade and over-exploitation are the main threats for many freshwater turtles.The Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis is globally red-listed as vulnerable (IUCN, 2007).

International trade for consumptionas meat and Traditional ChineseMedicine (TCM) are the majorthreats which have been identified(van Dijk et al., 2000; Ades et al.,2000; Anon., 2002a; Cheung andDudgeon, 2006; UNEP-WCMCCITES Trade Database, 2007) and itwas feared that the species maybecome threatened with extinctionunless trade is regulated. As a consequence, the species was included under Appendix II of theConvention on International Trade inEndangered Species of Wild Faunaand Flora (CITES) in 2000 (CITES,2007).

Indonesia continues to be the mainsupplier of the species for the international meat, TCM and pet

Status, trade dynamics and management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis in Indonesia 1

An egg that was laid by a Southeast Asian Box Turtle while awaitingtransport to foreign destination at a trader in South Sumatra

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markets. Official records of legally exported specimens alone indicate an annual export of about 300 000individuals in the 1990s (Jenkins, 1995; Lau et al., 1995; Samedi and Iskandar, 2000; Anon., 2001b) and20 000 annually after the CITES Appendix II listing (UNEP-WCMC CITES Trade Database, 2007).

These high exports are feared not to be sustainable as export quotas have been established without scientific evidence for sustainability but rather have been demand-oriented. In this case, Indonesia failedin its implementation of Article IV of CITES that requires a non-detriment finding (NDF) prior to theexport of an Appendix II-listed species. Concern regarding quota setting and the implementation of ArticleIV in Indonesia has been repeatedly stated (e.g. Nash, 1993; Iskandar and Erdelen, 2006). Iskandar andErdelen (2006) however acknowledge that the guideline of the Convention that export should not be detrimental to the survival of the species is not very helpful. This is because determining trade levels for aspecies that should not have short-term or long-term negative effects on natural populations is a very complex subject. The difficulty in collecting the relevant field data to estimate sustainability was shownby Erdelen (1998) in a study of three of the most heavily exploited reptiles in Indonesia (Water monitorVaranus salvator, Reticulated python Python reticulatus, and Blood python Python curtus); a finding thatalso applies to this study. The fact that high exploitative rates of some species do not necessary lead to


Figure 1:Distribution of the three box turtle subspecies that occur in Indonesia

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large-scale extinctions is partly a result of high reproductive rates of species such as the Water Monitor andthe Reticulated Python (e.g. Shine et al. 1998a, 1998b). Local extinction might however be the destiny ofspecies with low reproduction rate like the Southeast Asian Box Turtle. Hence, without profound knowledge of the species, its biology and ecology as well as on the legal and illegal trade levels, accuratequota setting is impossible.

Making a NDF is the designated responsibility of the CITES Scientific Authority in each exporting country as part of its advice to the CITES Management Authority (MA) on sustainable levels of harvestand export in CITES-listed species. Considering the complexity of a comprehensive NDF, the limitedmanpower, expertise and funding of the Indonesian CITES Scientific Authority (SA), and at the same timethe vast number of Indonesian species that require an NDF, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia identified theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle as a case study for science-based management. The case study could serve asa model for other CITES Appendix II species in trade, especially other Southeast Asian freshwater turtlesand other reptiles with a similar life history.

In 2005, the 10 Member Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed aRegional Action Plan on Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora 2005-2010 (Anon., 2005). The Regional ActionPlan details five major objectives, including improved legislation, increased law enforcement co-operation,sharing of scientific information in order to improve management decision making, working with tradersand the private sector, and creation of specialised task forces to address particular wildlife trade issues. Ofparticular relevance to this study is the role of Indonesia as designated “lead country” for Objectives 1, 4and 5 of the Regional Action Plan:

Objective 1. To assist ASEAN Member Countries in adopting effective and enforceable legislation forCITES implementation by:

- encouraging all ASEAN countries to enact Category 1 CITES-implementing legislation in orderto have the ability to meet evolving CITES requirements, and to address any policy loopholes thatmay be identified after enactment;- incorporating in national legislation, where necessary, social and economic incentives to promoteand regulate sustainable management as well as responsible trade of wild fauna and flora, andeffective implementation and enforcement of CITES;- promoting awareness programmes for the judiciary and other law enforcement agencies to enableadequate and timely responses to offences.

Objective 4. To encourage industry groups, trade associations/traders and local communities to complywith legality and sustainability requirements of CITES and national regulations on trade in wild fauna andflora, and to support research and capacity building on sustainable management of trade in wild fauna andflora by:

- increasing awareness of relevant industry groups about trade in wild fauna and flora and CITES;- collaborating with industry groups as a source of information about aspects of trade in wild faunaand flora, inter alia harvest management, captive breeding/ranching, artificial propagation, andmarket demand; and - promoting the re-investment of revenue derived from trade in wild fauna andflora into conservation and associated research of species in trade.


Objective 5. To encourage greater regional cooperation on specific issues by:

- reviewing the current status of the relationship between CITES implementation and other biodiversity related conventions.- establishing bilateral and multilateral taskforces to address shared concerns within ASEAN, related to the conservation and trade in particular species.

This study therefore aims to support Indonesia in its leadership role, and provide essential informationtowards the design and implementation of detailed NDF studies in order to set and manage annual quotasfor harvest and trade thus ensuring legality and improving sustainability for CITES Appendix II exports.Indonesia’s significance as a major exporting range State for C. amboinensis makes it an appropriate focusfor a pilot study to develop a methodology for conducting a NDF (Schoppe, 2008a) based on research intothe conservation status of the species relative to levels of trade. The present study aimed to accomplish thefollowing objectives:

• To review information on the biology and ecology of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle;• To assess the effectiveness and implementation of legislation pertaining to freshwater

turtle conservation in Indonesia;• To determine past and current trade levels and activities; and • To assess the abundance of the species in the country.

METHODOLOGY

Fieldwork was conducted in Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra and Kalimantan (Annex 1). The total study periodwas from March to July 2006. All surveys were conducted in cooperation with local counterparts whoassisted as guides and translators. Interviews were conducted in the local language. Local currency wasconverted into USD based on the mean exchange rate for the months of March to July 2006, whereas oneUSD = 9212.56 IDR.

Biology and ecology of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle

Published and unpublished material on the habitat, role in the ecosystems, reproduction and growth, andmorphology of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in general and on the three Indonesian subspecies specifically was compiled, enriched with observations during the present study and analysed. Informationand references on general habitats and on protected areas with habitats for the species was compiled basedon information from protected area management staff, relevant government institutions, NGOs, academics,references on protected areas, field surveys, and interviews. Almost nothing is known on the growth of thespecies; hence, most of the information presented here is based on studies of the author on the SoutheastAsian Box Turtle from Palawan where growth of the local subspecies was monitored for a four-year period (Schoppe and Dolorosa, in prep.). Published morphological data were compared with values thatwere gathered during the present study. For the latter, specimens encountered in the wild and at traderswere considered. A detailed description on how and what measurements were taken is provided in thechapter on trade surveys (see below).

Conservation status

The global conservation status of the species was assessed based on the latest Red List of ThreatenedSpecies published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, 2007) and the Conventionon International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, CITES (CITES, 2007). The national conservation status is based on the local legislation and on studies that provide information onabundance and treats.

Laws and regulations for the conservation of freshwater turtles in Indonesia

Information on management issues of CITES Appendix II-listed species was obtained from CITES onlinereferences (www.cites.org.com). Information on national and provincial legislation in place to regulate theharvest and trade in the Southeast Asian Box Turtle was compiled from relevant offices such as the CITESManagement Authority, concerned NGOs such as World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) – Indonesia,Wetland International Indonesia, and academic institutions. The enforcement of these laws was examinedand analysed based on interviews with law enforcement officers as well as traders.



Quantity and quality of trade of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle

Past trade levels

To compare current trade levels with the past, trade data derived from CITES annual reports, CITES TradeDatabase maintained by UNEP-WCMC, herpetologists, traders, seizure records, and press releases werecompiled and analyzed. The trade review focuses on the time about 10 years before the inclusion of theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle in Appendix II of CITES in 2000 through to 2006.

Trade surveys

Local utilization was assessed based on wet and pet market surveys, pet shops surveys and interviews withowners or labourers at reptile selling/keeping outlets. Exporting companies and suppliers to exporters whoclaimed to supply also the local market are also included in the survey. A list of all exporters who are registered for the trade of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle was obtained from the Indonesian CITES MA.The ID CITES MA provided the researcher with a letter that endorsed the bearer to the exporters anticipating that some of them would not allow an researcher to enter the farm/warehouse. From the various provincial BKSDA offices, names of registered Southeast Asian Box Turtle suppliers wereobtained. BKSDA officers also provided a list of dealers who were registered for other reptiles. Addressesof illegal reptile dealers were obtained by carefully interviewing collectors, pet shops staff, market vendors,registered traders or local residents. Specifically the following localities were surveys in Java, Sulawesi,Sumatra and Kalimantan:

In Java, trade surveys were carried out at the holding facilities of pet traders in and around Jakarta,Bogor and Cibinong in March and April 2006 (Figure 2). Furthermore, the Barito Pet Market in Jakartawas visited on March 7 and on April 21, 2006. The Fancy Pets Centre, Blok M Plaza Lt. IV, KebayoranBaru, Jakarta Selatan was visited thrice, once in March, once in April and once in June, 2006.

In South Sulawesi, traders were surveyed in the provincial capital Makassar (formerly Ujung Pandang),and in Masamba and Sengkang. In addition, the following aquarium shops and markets were visited inMakassar on May 11, 2006: a) Pasar Burung (Pasar Baru), Jl. Hasanuddin; b) Hobby Shop, Jl. Bn BuntuTerpedo 18 Ms.; c) Hoobie Aquarium, Jl. G. Lompobattang / Jl. Buntu Terpedo No. 30 (Baru); d) FishMarket, Jl. Hasanuddin; and e) Pasar Hobby.

In Sumatra, trade surveys were conducted in the provinces of North Sumatra, Riau, and South Sumatra(Figure 2). In 2006, the natural resources of North Sumatra were managed under two administrativedistricts: Sumatra Utara I (Sumut I) and Sumatra Utara II (Sumut II). In Sumut I trade surveys wereconducted in Belawan, Medan, Binjai, and Tanjung Merawan, and in Sumut II in Indrapura, TanjungBalai, and Rantauprapat. In Medan several pet/aquarium shops were visited. Along Jl. Thamrin are 10aquarium shops and in the neighbouring street, Jl. Letjen MT Haryono, are five fish shops. A bird market that also sells other kind of wildlife is found in Jl. Bintang. In a small road parallel to Jl. LetjenHaryono are numerous stalls that sell mainly fighting fish. All of them were visited and observationsrecorded on 19 and 20 May 2006. In Riau, surveys were conducted in Pekanbaru, the Provincial capital. Here traders as well as several bird vendors, the bird market near Jl. Durian, and Pasar Bawanear Jl. Ir. H. Juanda and Jl. Sulaiaman were visited on June 5 and 6, 2006. Trade was further assessed

along the provincial highway throughout Kabupaten Pelalawan (e.g. Kerinci, Sorek, Ukui), andKabupaten Indragiri Hulu (e.g. Lilik, Airmolek). In the south-eastern most Kabupaten, Indragiri Hilirtrade surveys were conducted in the Kabupaten’s capital Tembilahan. In South Sumatra, trade surveyswere conducted in Palembang. Traders and a traditional wet market with an animal section at Pasar 16,Ilir were visited between 31 May to 2 June 2006.

In the Indonesian part of Borneo, trade surveys were conducted in Pontianak, the provincial capital ofWest Kalimantan; in Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, in Banjarmasin, the provincial capital of SouthKalimantan and in the nearby town of Banjarbaru, and in Palangkaraya, the provincial capital of CentralKalimantan (Figure 2). Local utilization and trade were assessed at aquarium shops, pet shops and otherpotential reptile outlets in Banjarmasin and Pontianak. In Banjarmasin, six reptile vendors along Jl.Kapten P. Tendean were visited on June 30 and July 4, 2006, and several aquarium shops along Jl. H.Agus Salim, Jl. Diponegoro, Jl. Patimura, and Jl. A.R. Hakim were visited on 6 July 2006 in Pontianak.

At all premises of turtle traders – whether legal or illegal – the stock of the Southeast Asian Box Turtlepresent at the day of visit was assessed in terms of abundance, size, weight and sex. Since traders oftenhad high numbers of individuals, and some of the traders did not feel comfortable about the presence ofresearchers in their establishments, efforts were made to measure at least 10 individuals (5 female and 5male) haphazardly selected, or if possible 10% of the stock. In some places where the species was illegally traded, measuring specimens was not carried out at all, if it was feared this might jeopardise theconfidence of the trader. The researcher usually presented herself as a prospective buyer or an agent of alarge exporter.


Figure 2:Study sites in Indonesia


The following standard measurements were taken: median carapace length (MeCL), maximum carapacewidth (MaCW), median plastron length (MePL), plastron width 1 (PW1, at hinge), plastron width 2 (PW2,max. width at femorals), body height (BH), and body weight (Wt). Size and mass measurements weretaken with callipers and kitchen scales, respectively. Notes were taken on the sex. Small individuals inwhich external sexual dimorphism had not yet established were categorized as juveniles. Furthermore, thebody ratios MeCL/BH and MaCW/BH were calculated. These ratios are critical for the identification ofthe three Indonesian taxa. The body ratios were compared with ANOVA with the known ranges and meansof the three subspecies as provided by Rummler and Fritz (1991).

In addition, where possible, the pet exporters or their company managers were interviewed following asemi-structured questionnaire format (Box 1).

Alternative production systems

Captive breeding was assessed based on surveys of companies that claimed to breed the Southeast AsianBox Turtle. Data were validated through the help of captive breeding reports obtained from PHKA andBKSDA offices. The likelihood of viable captive breeding for the Southeast Asian Box Turtle is discussedprimarily on the basis of economical feasibility.

Population studies and abundance

Population surveyA survey of a wild population in a natural habitat was conducted in the National Park “Taman NationalRawa Aopa Watomohai” (TNRAW), Tinanggea, which is about 130 km southwest of Kendari, the provincial capital of Southeast Sulawesi from April 29 to June 10, 2006. The TNRAW (04°00’-04°36’Sand 121°46’-122°09’E) covers submontane rain forest, mangrove forest, coastal forest, savannah, and

Box 1:Guide questions designed to compile information on trade of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle from pet traders

1. What is your purchase price for the Southeast Asian Box Turtle?2. What is your selling price for the Southeast Asian Box Turtle?3. Does the Southeast Asian Box Turtle have a high commercial value in the pet trade?4. What sizes do you buy?5. Do you buy all sexes of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle?6. From which Province do you get most the Southeast Asian Box Turtle?7. Do you get the Southeast Asian Box Turtle from Kalimantan and Sulawesi?8. Is it more difficult to get a certain number of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle now than 5/10 years ago?9. Do you breed the Southeast Asian Box Turtle?10. What are the (main) destination countries?11. What port of export do you use?12. What airlines do you normally use?13. What is the size/amount of a usual shipment of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle?14. What is the mortality rate?


freshwater swamp forest ecosystems (Sriyanto et al., 2003). The park was declared protected in 1989 andcomprises a total of 96 804 ha at an altitude between 0-981 m with an annual rainfall of 1500-2000 mm.A peat swamp area in Lanuwulu, Tinanggea near the office of the park management (04°27.677’S and122°07.531’E) was selected for the survey (Figure 3).

The study area covered approximately 2 ha of that wetland area. The area fits the definition of a typicalpeat swamp forest with closed canopy. Most of the area is submerged by water of about 20-50 cm depth;some parts are even deeper, while others are only moist but not submerged. The following plants dominate the vegetation: Freshwater mangrove Barringtonia racemosa, Buri palm Corypha utan, BambooBambusa utan, Rattan Calamus spp., Mangrove fern Acrostichum aureum. Among the aquatic macrofauna, the following were frequently encountered: Snakehead Channa striata, Climbing perch Anabas testudineus, Gouramis Trichogaster sp., Crab-eating frog Fejervarya cancrivora (Figure 4), Celebes orSulawesi Toad Bufo celebensis (Figure 4), Apple snail Pila ampullacea, water striders, Fishing spiderDolomedes sp. Major terrestrial faunal elements encountered were Buton Macaque Macaca ochreata,fruitbats, Sulawesi Pig Sus celebensis cf. (trace), kingfishers, parrots, Green Imperial Pigeon Ducula aenea

Figure 3:Map of the National Park Rawa Aopa Watomohai (TNRAW) in Southeast Sulawesi


cf., Rhytecoros cassidex, nightjars, Water Monitor Varanus salvator, Tokay Gecko Gecko gecko, RoughMabuya Eutropis rudis (Figure 4), Reed Snake Calamaria sp. (Figure 4), Dusky Mock ViperPsammodynastes pulverulentus pulverulentus, Wagler’s Pit-viper Tropidolaemus wagleri, Dog-facedWater Snake Cerberus rynchops rynchops and a Worm Snake Typlops sp.

To obtain quantitative data on the abundance of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle from the wild and in linewith the time frame of the project, the mark-recapture method for closed population after Schnabel wasselected (Krebs, 1998). A closed population does not change in size during the study period: that is, theeffect of births, deaths, and movements are negligible. Thus, populations are typically closed over only ashort period of time and this method is applicable for the proposed study. The method makes the following assumptions: the population size is constant without recruitment or losses, sampling is random,and all individuals have an equal chance of capture in any given sample. The major advantage of the multiple sampling in a Schnabel experiment is that it is easier to pick up violations of these assumptions.The assumption of dealing with a constant population size is justifiable considering that the study was conducted over a short period of time.

Figure 4:Herpetofauna found in the same ecosystem as the Southeast Asian Box Turtle: a). Crab-eating frog (02.05.06),b). Sulawesi Toad (03.05.06), c). Reed Snake (01.05.06), d). Rough Mabuya (04.05.06)

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In the peat swamp forest in the TNRAW, mark-recapture survey was conducted daily for six consecutiveweeks (Figure 5). Animals were collected using three methods: a) Visual Encounter Surveys (VES) around5:30-9:00 am and 6:00-10:00 pm, b) pitfall traps checked during time of VES (Figure 6), and c) funnel trapschecked during time of VES (Figure 7). VES were conducted in the entire study area. Pit fall traps wereset at the southern margin of the study area since all other areas were too wet for this method. The funneltraps were baited with bananas and/or shrimps and set in water bodies. The type of funnel trap used in thisstudy is locally used for trapping marine or estuarine crabs. A total of 10 funnel traps were distributed atlocalities that were deep enough for their establishment, such as pool or creek areas. All Wallacean BoxTurtles encountered with either of the methods were marked by notching the marginal scutes of the carapace (Figure 8). The coding scheme for marking the turtles was modified from Sajwaj et al. (1998).

For each individual, standard measurements were taken (see above). In addition, all individuals wereweighed, and sexed or categorized as juveniles.

Figure 5: Part of study area in the peat swamp forest inTNRAW, Southeast Sulawesi (30.04.06)

Figure 6: Example for a site where pit fall traps wereestablished (03.05.06)

Figure 7: Funnel traps used in Sulawesi (25.05.06)

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Figure 8: Notching system used to mark individual turtles

After measurements were taken, animals were released to the place of capture. Since it is unlikely that thewhole population can be counted, a statistical method was used to estimate population size and density(Blomberg and Shine, 1996). Once the entire survey was finished the population size was estimated afterSchumacher and Eschmeyer based on the compiled field records (Krebs, 1998):

The variance of the Schumacher estimate is obtained from linear regression theory as the variance of theslope of the regression. In terms of mark-recapture data,

The standard error of the slope of the regression is obtained as follows:

Whereas:Ct = total number of individuals caught in sample tRt = number of individuals already marked when caught in sample tMt = number of marked individuals in the population just before the sample t is takens = total number of samples

The mean size and standard deviation of adult males, adult females, and juveniles was computed based onthe measurements of all individuals in each respective life history group. Morphometrics of male andfemale individuals were compared with One-way ANOVA for significant differences. The relative composition of the population in terms of the numbers of adult females, adult males and juveniles was alsocalculated and so was the sex ratio for adult individuals. The size frequency distribution of all individualsis illustrated in histograms using 10 mm intervals.

Harvest survey

The pre-selected site in Riau that was supposed to serve as a representative for an open accessible population of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle was not surveyed due to logistical and technical problems.As a replacement, a wetland area in Kota Bangun, west of Samarinda, East Kalimantan was picked basedon known exploitation in the area. The area is located in the wetlands of Kutai Kartanegara between MuaraKelang in the south, Muara Pahu in the west, Kambangjanggut in the north and Kota Bangun in the east(116°E and 117°E and 00°50N and 00°50S) at approximately 100 km west of Samarinda the Provincial capital (Figure 9).


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The entire wetland encompasses about 320 000 ha at 20-60 m a.s.l. and comprises three major lakes, DanauSemayang (8937 ha), Danau Melintang (7063 ha) and Danau Jempang (10 875 ha), numerous small lakes,temporarily flooded grasslands and forests. Part of the area had been declared important wetlands by theASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, now known as the ASEAN Centre forBiodiversity. These important wetlands comprise the Muara Kaman Nature Reserve (0°25’N-0°07’S and116°37’-116°48’E) and the proposed Perairan Sungai Mahakam Nature Reserve (0°07’N-0°29’S and116°03’-116°52’E) (ARCBC, 2006). Dominant or principal vegetation is that of peat and freshwaterswamp forests including Ramin Gonystylus bancanus. The exotic Water Hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes isa common aquatic weed in still waters. The area is a renowned collection area for snakes (ReticulatedPython, Elephant’s Trunk Snake Acrochordus javanicus) Water Monitors and freshwater turtles (especially the Malayan Giant Turtle Orlitia borneensis, the Southeast Asian Box Turtle, the Asian LeafTurtle, Asian Softshell Turtle). About six years ago, 80-100% of the human population in Kota Bangunwas engaged in turtle/reptile trade (Pak Amir, boatman at Lake Semayang, pers. comm. to the researcher,23 June 2006). At that time, demand was so high and collectors and collections so numerous that companies from Banjarmasin, Lampung and Riau had “offices” in Kota Bangun.

Visual inspection of the area soon revealed that the physical conditions do not allow a mark-recapture survey (Figure 10). The assumptions for a mark recapture survey of a closed population were not met.Hence, the survey was delimited to quantifying the catch at premises of four middlemen in the area. Theresults do not allow an estimate of the population size but rather provide an indication of the abundanceand catchability of the species.

Figure 9:Map of Eastern Kalimantan showing survey sites around Kota Bangun

In East Kalimantan, the dry season usually initiates in May and extends to September, and the wet seasontypically ranges from October to April. According to local turtle collectors, the Malayan Box Turtle is bestcollected during the dry and peak wet season. Collection activities for the Malayan Box Turtle usually peakaround January to May (Haji Uji and Haji Ijay, reptile middlemen in Kedang Murung, pers. comm. to theresearcher, 21 June 2006). At the end of the wet season, the area is characterized by medium water levels and foul-smelling waters that are bad for the collection of turtles. With the seasons, the physicalappearance of the area undergoes changes and therewith the Malayan Box Turtle occupies different habitats during the wet and dry season. At the peak of the dry season, handpicking is a common collectionpractice and during the peak wet season rattan or metal funnel traps are used. In 2006, the wet seasonextended further than usually, still bringing frequent rain in June. The time of the survey (24 June to 5 Aug.2006) was therefore considered a lean collection period. The area is large, openly accessible, and withoutphysical boundaries.

There were four local turtle dealers in the area. They all supplied the only turtle exporter in EasternKalimantan whose company is in Balikpapan. The area in which the four middlemen and their collectorsoperated comprises about one third or approximately 106 700 ha of the total wetland area. Middleman ‘A’from Kedang Murung, Kota Bangun is supplied by 15 collectors who together cover 15 river systems(Annex 2). A second middleman (B) in Kota Bangun who resides in LIang Ilir is supplied by a total ofseven collectors from around Muara Kaman, Kahala, Sabintulung and Tubuhan. Two other middlemen (Cand D) who reside in Muara Muntai at about 25 km by boat from Kota Bangun only get turtles from places


Figure 10: Part of the survey area in the wetlands of Kota Bangun, East Kalimantan (21.06.06)

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near their residences. The residence of “A” (S 00°16.937” and E 116°35.720”) was the home and researchstation of the researcher for the duration of the study.

The Malayan Box Turtles encountered at these four middlemen (A-D) were monitored in terms of the totalnumber individuals and the relative percentage of females, males and juveniles. In addition, 10% but atleast 10 females, 10 males, 10 juveniles and all hatchlings brought in by every collector were measured following standard procedures (see above). A size frequency histogram was prepared for all measured individuals. The middlemen A and B were easily accessible for the researcher and hence checked on a dailybasis. The other two middlemen (C and D) were visited only once on 19 July 2006. The collectors of thesefour middlemen mainly used funnel traps for catching the turtles. Visual encounter surveys when individuals are handpicked were rather rare during the time of the survey. Most used funnel traps made ofrattan (Figure 11) but metal funnel traps are also commonly used (Figure 12).

Harvest impact surveys

The harvest impact on theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle wasassessed in selected sites in SouthSulawesi, Sumatra and Kalimantan(Annex 1). Qualitative surveys onthe impact harvesting has had or ishaving on the populations were carried out through interviews withlocal residents, store owners, market vendors, collectors, traders,farmers and recreational fishermen.Interviews were not systematic norwere questionnaires or lead questions used. Interviews wererather informal and semi-structuredin nature, aimed at getting information on the local distribution, abundance now andfive to 10 years ago, and threats.

In South Sulawesi, harvest impactsurveys were conducted from theprovincial capital Makassar (formerly Ujung Pandang) in thesouth along the west coast to Barru,Pare Pare, Makale, Palopo, toMasamba in the north (431 kmnorth of Makassar) and back southvia Sengkang, Watansoppeng, andMaros.


Figure 11: Rattan funnel trap are most commonly used to trap theMalayan Box Turtle in Kota Bangun area

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Figure 12: Metal funnel traps are a ‘modern’ alternative to the rattantraps (21.06.06)

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In Sumatra, harvest impact interview surveys were conducted along the provincial highway throughoutKabupaten Pelalawan (e.g. Kerinci, Sorek, Ukui), and Kabupaten Indragiri Hulu (e.g. Lilik, Airmolek). Inthe south-eastern most Kabupaten, Indragiri Hilir harvest surveys were conducted in and aroundBelantaraya. Belantaraya lies along River Gaung and can only be reached by boat in about 2.5 hours fromTembilahan. Tembilahan is four hours away from Batam by speedboat. From Batam, Singapore can bereached in 40 minutes. Ships travel in about 14 hours from Tembilahan to Singapore. Both Batam andSingapore have international sea- and airports.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Habitat

The present study identified various natural and man-made habitats of the species in lowland areas inIndonesia. Among natural habitats, the researcher found the species in swamp and peat swamp forests,marshes, permanent or temporary wetlands, and shallow lakes. The species was observed in man-madehabitats such as flooded rice fields, oil palm and rubber plantations that are either partly flooded or thathave an extensive drainage system as well as in irrigation ditches, canals, orchards, vegetated drainage systems, ponds and pools near houses. In addition, the species was found foraging at dumpsites of houses in rural areas during the night. These findings agree with previous research on Indonesian freshwater turtle species. Samedi and Iskandar (2000) outlined the importance of wetlands to theIndonesian populations of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle and to other freshwater turtle and tortoisespecies. Ernst et al. (2000) and Lim and Das (1999) mentioned lowland water bodies with soft bottomsand slow currents, such as marshes, swamps, ponds, pools in streams, and also man-made flooded rice paddies, plantations such as those of oil palm, rubber, and orchards as habitats. Due to its ability to copewith environments altered by man better than most turtle species, Moll (1997) accurately described thespecies as a generalist. Nevertheless, loss and degradation of natural habitats impose environmental pressures on the species (Jenkins, 1995). The United Nations (1997) estimated the total area of degraded,denuded and wasteland in Indonesia at 30 million hectares, two thirds of it in Java. Natural habitats of thespecies have also decreased as a result of extensive human re-settlement programs in Indonesia (Anon.,1999c). About 61% of the Javanese human population was moved to Sumatra (Collins, 1990), which contributes large portions of the range of the Indonesian Box Turtle (Gaulke and Fritz, 1998). Java’s populations of this subspecies, on the other hand, are assumed to be affected by the conversion of rice fieldsinto non-agricultural land.

The World Bank estimated that by 2010, roughly 13% of Java’s 3.4 million hectares of rice fields may beconverted into non-agricultural land (United Nations, 1997). The effects of Indonesia’s human resettlement programs has also extended to Sulawesi’s subspecies. According to Manzke (1993) andRummler and Fritz (1991), the Malayan Box Turtle has a more terrestrial lifestyle than the other subspecies. This subspecies is therefore more likely to be affected by the heavy forest fires in Borneo.Although there seems to be no study that looked into the effects of swampland fires on local reptile populations in Sumatra, it is evident that the species’ range of natural habitats in Sumatra has been greatlyreduced. Sumatra’s wetlands cover 11 million hectares, equivalent to 23% of the total land surface(Anderson and Bowen, 2000). The four largest swamplands are found in the Sumatran provinces of Riau(4756 600 ha), South Sumatra (3159 700 ha), Jambi (976 100 ha) and North Sumatra (951 800 ha)(RePPProT, 1988). Two million hectares of the total area were deliberately cleared by fire between


1985/1990 and 2000 (Anderson and Bowen, 2000). Reduction of swampland still continues. Cleared areasare planted with agricultural crops, mainly oil palm (Anderson and Bowen, 2000).

One might argue that oil palm plantations constitute a new man-made habitat for the Southeast Asian BoxTurtle. It cannot be denied that the species can readily adapt to oil palm plantations, if the species’requirements for aquatic sources is accomplished. The major disadvantage of man-made versus naturalhabitats for the species is that individuals become much more accessible and easier to collect. Plantationworkers, for example, collect the animals during their daily work. Hence, the adaptation of the species tohuman agricultural practices, once an advantage to the species’ survival, now leads to a faster and moreeffective exploitation. This had been previously assumed by Gavino and Schoppe (2004) for the Palawansubspecies inhabiting man-made rice field habitats.

Pollution of waterways was identified by Lim and Das (1999) as another threat to the Southeast Asian BoxTurtle and its habitats. In fact, pesticide use in agricultural lands such as rice fields and oil palm plantations was claimed to be one of the reasons of population reductions suggested by farmers and plantation workers in Sulawesi, Sumatra and Kalimantan. For example, in Malaysia, farmers hope to regulate or reduce plantation damage caused by wild pigs through poisoned baits. These baits also causedfatalities among Southeast Asian Box Turtles (Schoppe, unpubl. data). It remains unknown whether suchpractice is also carried out in some parts of Indonesia. Furthermore, there are no quantitative data on pollution and its impact on the species. If pollution constitutes a serious problem for the species, some ofthe man-made habitats that are provided through rice paddies and oil palm plantations are likely to be deadly traps for the species.


Box 2:Protected areas may not necessarily constitute a safe habitat for assurance colonies.

Samedi and Iskandar (2000) noted that Wetlands International Indonesia had identified 24 out of 272 importantIndonesian wetlands as especially important for 15 species of freshwater turtles including the Southeast AsianBox Turtle. However, being identified as important or declared as being protected does not guarantee that anatural resource is properly managed and conserved. The United Nations (1997) stressed that althoughIndonesia had 368 units of established protected areas in 1995, these did not assure biodiversity conservationbecause most of them had inadequate human resources for management and regulation of enforcement. It isexpected that the situation remains similar today, and that the higher number of protected areas – as of 2003,Indonesia had 407 protected areas covering 23.1 million ha (Sriyanto et al., 2003) – does not imply better protection. Park personal of the Taman National Rawa Aupa Watomohai (TNRAW) in Sulawesi for exampleexpressed concern that a lack of staff and vehicles hinders proper patrolling and prevention of illegal activitiesin the park (Puto Sutarya, park ranger,Aopa,TNRAW, pers. comm. to the researcher, 27 April 2006). Park rangersof TNRAW identified slash-and-burn farming practices, illegal logging, and hunting of wildlife as the major threatsto the natural resources of the national park (Puto Sutarya, park ranger, Aopa, TNRAW, pers. comm. to the researcher, 27 April 2006). Berbak National Park in Jambi, Sumatra is described by Sriyanto et al. (2003) as thelargest unexploited swamp forest in Southeast Asia and home among others to threatened freshwater turtles.Anderson and Bowen (2000) identified the Batanghari River wetland adjacent to Berbak National Park as oneof seven major so-called fire zones that are under the pressure of continued fire clearings. Berbak National Parksuffered fire damage in 1997 and is now under increasing threat from fire.

Role in the ecosystem

Little is known about the long-term or large-scale consequences of the loss of reptiles from freshwaterecosystems (Cheung and Dudgeon, 2006). Turtles play a role in their ecosystem’s food chain both as predators of various invertebrates, and as prey species. Eggs as well as a significant proportion of hatchlings are an important source of food for monitor lizards, crocodiles, herons and other wetland/riverine birds, and small mammalian predators such as civets (Moll and Moll, 2004). Although information on the scale of predation on eggs and hatchlings is not available for any Asian freshwater turtle, egg and hatchling survival of North American aquatic turtles is reported to be low with mortalitymainly caused by predation. The common and widely distributed North American Painted TurtleChrysemys picta and the Southeast Asian Box Turtle have some similarities in life history such as size, sexratio and age at maturity. For the Painted Turtle 92% mortality was recorded between egg laying andarrival of hatchlings at pond (Wilbur, 1975). A later study on the same species estimated 54% mortality,mainly due to predation (Mitchell, 1988).

In the wild, the Southeast Asian Box Turtle has an omnivorous but primarily vegetarian diet (Rogner,1996), but shows preference for a carnivorous diet in captivity (Schoppe, unpubl. data). The species forages on aquatic plants, aquatic insects, molluscs, and crustaceans in the water and on plants, fungi, andworms on land (Lim and Das, 1999). Because of its consumption of worms and molluscs, some of whichmight act as intermediate hosts for various human diseases, this species may help to stem invertebrate-borne diseases (van Dijk, 2000). In determining the importance of Southeast Asian Box Turtleas a seed disperser, it was noted that fruits of five important trees e.g., fig trees Ficus sp., Indian MulberryMorinda citrifolia are consumed (Peter Widmann, Scientific Consultant, Katala Foundation Inc., Palawan,Philippines, in litt. to the researcher, 18 Aug. 2006). Significant ecological impacts of the loss of turtlesmight include changes in energy flow, nutrient cycling and food-web structure, and heavily exploitedspecies could be reduced to a level at which they become functionally extinct well before extirpation hastaken place (Cheung and Dudgeon, 2006). Unfortunately, ecological studies of most Asian herpetofaunaare extremely limited and, in this regard, Asian turtles have been described as ‘truly forgotten and ignoredcreatures’ (Thirakhupt and van Dijk, 1994; see also Moll and Moll, 2004).

Morphology

Within the course of this study, 1031 Southeast Asian Box Turtles composed of 91 Wallacean Box Turtles(Figure 13), 200 Indonesian Box Turtles (Figure 14), 740 Malayan Box Turtles (Figure 15), were measuredand weighed. Among these three individuals had lacking data and were not included in the size analysiswhile size and weight of the remainder was compared among subspecies (Table 1).

The largest individual, a Malayan Box Turtle measured 215 mm in median carapace length (MeCL) andweighed 1300 g, followed by an Indonesian Box Turtle with 214 mm and a weight of 1520 g, and aWallacean Box Turtle with 200 mm MeCL and 920 g Wt (Table 1). Male and female Malayan Box Turtlesdiffered significantly in mean MeCL from the other two subspecies. It is assumed that results are representative for the subspecies and that the Malayan Box Turtles in fact is the largest of the three subspecies that occur in Indonesia. The largest Indonesian Box Turtle encountered by Rummler and Fritz(1991) measured 217.5 mm and a MeCL of 230 mm is the maximum record for the Burmese Box Turtle(C. amboinensis lineata) from Myanmar (McCord and Philippen, 1998). Lim and Das (1999) stated that


the Malayan subspecies can reach 250 mm.This supports the assumption that theMalayan Box Turtle is the largest of all subspecies. In accordance with largerMeCL, male and female Malayan BoxTurtles also differ significantly in mean bodyweight (Wt) from the other two subspecies(Table 1). The maximum weight of 1650 g ata MeCL of 199 mm for a female and 1950 gat a MeCL of 172 mm for a male MalayanBox Turtle, respectively constitute theknown weight record for the Southeast AsianBox Turtle. Published records on the sametaxon indicate a maximum body mass of1500 g (Lim and Das, 1999). Apparently,size and weight in combination with geographic distribution and abundancemakes the Malayan Box Turtle the mostfavoured and most common species on theChinese food markets. This is supported bystatements of traders who assured that theMalayan Box Turtle is the preferred sub-species in the consumption trade because ofits larger size and higher meat quality (LimHau Tiong, Medan, pers. comm. to the researcher, 20 May 2006, and Pak Ian,Virensa Anugrah, Medan, 25 May 2006).Females of all three subspecies are usuallylarger and heavier than males of the samesubspecies (Table 1). This makes femalesmore attractive for traders since payment isby body mass and not by individual.

Few studies have previously examined sizeclasses of traded Southeast Asian BoxTurtles. Accordingly, comparative data arenegligible. Moll had measured Malayan BoxTurtles between 1975 and 1989 (Edward O.

Moll., Professor Emeritus of Zoology at Eastern Illinois University, in litt. to the researcher, 12 January2007, and 7 June 2007). The male individuals had a mean MeCL of 181.8 mm (n=17), and the femalesaveraged 179.9 mm (n=21). Moll’s females and males were 5.9 mm and 5.4 mm larger than the mean ofthose measured during the course of this study (Table 1). This might indicate that traded individuals declined in mean size over the years but comparative data are too few for a reliable analysisand final conclusion. A decline in size was noted though for the Malayan Giant Turtle and the ElongatedTortoise Indotestudo elongata at markets in South China (Lee et al., 2004), for the Elongated Tortoise inwestern Thailand (Thirakhupt and van Dijk, 1994), for the Red-eared Slider Trachemys scripta elegans in


Figure 13: The Wallacean Box Turtle Cuora amboinensisamboinensis

Figure 15: The Malayan Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis kamaroma

Figure 14:The Indonesian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis couro

All

pict

ures

by

Sabi

ne S

chop

pe/T

RA

FFIC

Sout

heas

t Asi

a

North America (Close and Seigel, 1997), and the Slider T. callirostris in Colombia (Bernal et al., 2004;Vivian P. Paez, University of Antioquia, in litt. to the researcher, 12 January 2007). Thirakhupt and van


Wallacean Box Turtle C.a. amboinensis

(n=91)

Indonesian Box Turtle C.a. couro

(n=200)

Malayan Box Turtle C.a.

kamaroma (n=740)

No. female 35 56 320

158.7±23.8 158.2±27.2 174.0±18.2

(118.0-200.0)a (114.0-214.0)a (112.0-215.0)b

122.1±12.2 122.6±15.2 131.7±11.8

(95.5-142.0)a (96.3-161.0)a (91.0-159.0)b

65.0±11.0 73.2±10.7 85.4±9.7

(42.0-82.0)a (53.0-99.0)b (54.0-112.0)c

636.7±254.3 740.5±336.9 1007.8±282.6

(200-1080)a (260-1520)a (250-1650)b

No. male 35 57 337

153.5±19.2 167.5±29.4 177.0±21.1

(110.5-177.0)a (109.9-213.0)b (107.0-210.0)c

116.0±12.7 125.2±14.5 128.3±11.8

(97.0-158.5)a (89.2-147.0)b (77.0-168.0)b

57.0±5.2 70.5±9.5 77.3±7.5

(46.0-70.0)a (49.0-87.0)b (49.0-98.0)c

506.1±162.3 760.9±294.9 925.4±263.4

(220-840)a (140-1300)b (150-1950)c

No. juvenile 18 87 82

67.6±16.9 96.7±13.4 100.0±14.1

(51.5.0-110.0)a (55.6-126.8)b (66.3-119.0)b

62.6±15.8 83.0±10.8 83.3±10.4

(48.6-109.0)a (49.6-105.4)b (58.7-96.0)b

27.2±7.0 44.8±6.6 48.0±7.6

(22.0-44.0)a (24.8-65.0)b (28.9-60.0)c

57.5±57.3 160.0±62.1 178.8±72.2

(20-220)a (28-340)b (35-310)b

No. of individuals not included

3 0 1

MeCL (mm)

MaCW (mm)

BH (mm)

Wt (g)

MeCL (mm)

MaCW (mm)

BH (mm)

Wt (g)

MeCL (mm)

MaCW (mm)

BH (mm)

Wt (g)

Table 1:Recorded mean ± standard deviation (SD) and range body sizes and weights of thethree Southeast Asian Box Turtle subspecies distributed in Indonesia.

MeCL = median carapace length, MaCW = maximum carapace width, BH = bodyheight, Wt = body weight.

Dijk (1994) interpret the smaller mean size of traded Elongated Tortoises compared to those of individualsin protected areas as being caused by long-term removal of adults. The same trend is noticeable but notyet supported with data of the Asian Softshell Turtle traded in Thailand (Peter Paul van Dijk, ConservationInternational, in litt. to the researcher, 11 January 2007). This present research concurs with van Dijk inthat a decrease in mean size of turtles in trade is probably the result of ongoing long-term exploitation atmodest intensity, in contrast to intensive exploitation of a previously undisturbed population.

Growth and reproduction

There are very few published studies on the growth rate and size at maturity of the Southeast Asian BoxTurtle. Most are from hobby breeders rather than scientists (e.g. Inskeep, 1984; Praedicow, 1985; Grychta,1988; Danko, 1993; Saxena, 1994; Beil, 2005). Among these, only Preadicow (1985) provided somegrowth data for the first six months after hatching. His two hatchlings increased by a mean of 0.19 mmper day. Studies on captive Southeast Asian Box Turtles from Palawan revealed a similar growth rate of0.24 mm/day (Schoppe and Dolorosa, in prep.). Two individuals raised from hatchling took between 14and 16 or a mean of 15 months to grow to a median carapace length (MeCL) of > 115 mm and therewithreached subadult hood (Schoppe and Dolorosa, in prep.). A mean growth rate of 0.06 mm/day for subadultanimals until 24 months of age and a mean growth rate of 0.038 mm/day for adults was calculated, implying that an adult size of 160 mm MeCL1 is reached in four years and five months in captivity(Schoppe and Dolorosa, in prep.). Praedicow (1985) observed sexual maturity of females at 5-6 years andof males at 8-9 years. In a sister species, the Chinese Three-striped Box Turtle Cuora trifasciata, it takesabout 7-8 years until maturity is reached in semi-natural conditions (Meier, 2000). With enhanced feedingand high temperature of about 30°C maturity might be reached already at an age of 3 years (Meier, 2000).Moll observed a captive Malayan Box Turtle male that appeared to be mature in its fifth year (Edward O.Moll, Professor Emeritus of Zoology at Eastern Illinois University, in litt. to the researcher, 13 January2007). Growth is usually slower in the wild than in captivity since a food supply enriched with vitaminsand minerals in captive animals is given on a regular basis. It is therefore assumed that maturity in the wildis retarded by at least a year. It is presumed that it takes approx. 5½-6 years to attain maturity in the wild(Schoppe, unpubl. data). Growth data are very important for the consideration of captive breeding as analternative to the harvest of wild populations.

Once maturity is reached, the species is known to lay one or two clutches of one to four eggs (Congdon,2000), or two to four clutches of only two eggs (Ernst et al., 2000). Lim and Das (1999) confirmed thisbut stated that a total of four to six eggs per clutch are an exception. An annual total of six eggs was repeatedly observed in captivity (Schoppe, unpubl. data). Mortality of eggs and juveniles is estimated tobe roughly around 50% (see Wilbur, 1975; Mitchell, 1988), hence one female can probably only producethree juveniles in one year. Life expectancy is 25-30 years; a maximum age of 38.2 years was recorded foran animal in captivity (Bowler, 1977).

The relatively slow growth and the low reproductive rate of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle result in a slowturnover rate of breeding individuals in a population. Accordingly, generation length that can be defined


1 Taking a size of 160 mm as a margin for adult hood is supported by observations of Edward O. Moll (in litt., 13 January 2007).

as ‘the average age of reproducing animals’ or ‘the time it takes for an animal to be replaced by its offspring’ is extensive. Generation time can be approximated by taking the median or mid-point betweenage at maturity and age at mortality. In the case of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle that would be a generation time of 18 years.

Demographic studies on the North American Ornate Box Turtle Terrapene ornata ornata revealed an annual adult population growth rate (λ) of 1.006 (SE = 0.065); this would result in a 58% probability of apopulation decrease over a 20-year period (Converse et al., 2005). Converse et al. (2005) conclude thatsignificant human disturbance, such as commercial harvest or turtle mortality on roads, represents a potential risk to box turtle populations. No such studies are available for Asian freshwater turtles.

Conservation status of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle

After being recognized as potentially threatened in 1996, the Southeast Asian Box Turtle was first listed as‘Lower Risk: Near Threatened’ in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Baillie and Groombridge,1996). When studies found that the global population continued to decline rapidly, the species was upgraded to ‘Vulnerable’ during the next IUCN Red List assessment in 2000 (Hilton-Taylor, 2000). Thisstatus is in line with the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species criteria A1d+2d of version 2.3: ‘a taxon isclassified Vulnerable when it is not Critically Endangered or Endangered but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future, as defined by an observed, estimated, inferred or suspected reduction of at least 20% over the last 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer,based on actual or potential levels of exploitation’ (A1d) and because ‘a reduction of at least 20%, is projected or suspected to be met within the next 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer,based on actual or potential levels of exploitation’ (A2d). Since 2000, the status has not been assessedagain (IUCN, 2007). Considering that three generations of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle take about 54years, this translates to a reduction of at least 20% that has occurred between 1946 and 2000, which wasthe year of assessment, and further expected reduction of at least 20% between 2000 and 2054.

Within its global range, no quantitative information on the abundance of Southeast Asian Box Turtle population is available. A range State evaluation of the status for the IUCN Red List classified the species‘Vulnerable’ in Indonesia (Asian Turtle Working Group, 2000; IUCN, 2007). The Indonesian CITES MAhowever considers the species common, widespread in the western part of the country and abundant inmost areas with natural or man-made wetlands, therefore justifying high harvest and export quota (Anon.,2006c).

Specific habitat requirements are little known, population sizes are unknown for virtually all freshwaterturtle species, and consequently, recent trends in population sizes remain unknown too. Generally, most ofthe fundamental data on species biology and ecology are lacking.

Laws and regulations for the conservation of freshwater turtles in Indonesia

To the public in Indonesia, amphibians and reptiles are not considered groups that are in specific need ofprotection (Iskandar and Erdelen, 2006) hence most are not adequately considered by any national legislation and are exploited in enormous numbers. This particularly applies to the Southeast Asian BoxTurtle and other freshwater turtle species.


In Indonesia, the species is not protected but its trade is regulated through a quota system. The SoutheastAsian Box Turtle has the highest harvest and export quota among all hard-shelled species in Indonesia, followed by the non-CITES Asian Leaf Turtle Cyclemys dentata2 and only outnumbered by the AsianSoftshell Turtle Amyda cartilaginea (Anon., 1999a, 2001a, 2002a, 2003a, 2003d, 2004a, 2006a).

The quota system

Indonesia became Party to CITES on 28 March 1979 and therewith agreed to contribute to sustainablemanagement of CITES-listed species. The trade of CITES Appendix II-listed species and the issuance ofCITES export permits requires proof that the specimens have been acquired legally, and that the export isnot detrimental to the survival of the species – the ‘non-detriment finding’ (NDF) under CITES Article IV.A well-managed annual export quota system can eliminate the need for a NDF for each individual shipment of CITES specimens, provide a basis for monitoring the trade, and may facilitate the issuance ofexport permits (Anon., 2006b). The setting of an export quota however is not an obligation under theConvention but it may meet the NDF requirement by establishing the maximum number of specimens ofa species that may be exported over the course of a year without having a detrimental effect on its survival(www.cites.org).

The Indonesian CITES MA uses a quota system to regulate the harvest, trade and export of not onlyCITES-listed species but also nationally protected and non-protected wildlife. The quota system is determined within the framework of the Ministry Decree No. 447 (Anon., 2003b) that recognizes RepublicAct No. 5 of 1990 (Anon., 1990) and the Government Regulation No. 8 of 1999 (Anon., 1999b). The quotasystem stipulates annual harvest levels, export levels, and the purpose of export. The setting of quotas andthe management of quota species fall under the authority of the General Directorate of the Forest Protectionand Nature Conservation under the Ministry of Forestry (PHKA) as the CITES Management Authority(MA), under the Ministry of Forestry (Samedi et al., 2002). The Ministerial Decree No. 447 basicallyadopts the requirements of the Convention for the trade of Appendix II-listed species. The Decree declaresthat a quota is established by the Director General taking into account the recommendations of the CITESScientific Authority (SA), the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) as the basis of the establishment, andis valid for one calendar year period, January 1st through to December 31st (Anon., 2003b). LIPI finalises their quota recommendations after an annual meeting that is held every August but which mighttake place as late as December or the following January3, and to which other scientists, traders and NGOsare usually invited. The CITES MA shall inform the CITES Secretariat of the established export quotasand of revisions of such quota at least 30 days before the start of the period to which the export quota relates(Anon. 2006b). This is however never precisely the case. The CITES Secretariat was informed about the2006, 2005 and 2004 quota on 14 February 2006, 03 March 2005 and 23 April 2004, respectively(http://www.unep-wcmc.org/isdb/extra/results.cfm).

According to Article 8 of the Ministry Decree 447, for CITES listed species “the recommendations of theSA shall be based on scientific data or information from population inventories or monitoring” (Anon.,


2 Indonesian authorities treat Cyclemys dentata and C. oldhami and other hidden species in the Cyclemys dentata complex together under Cyclemys dentata.3 In 2006 and 2007, the meetings were in November and December, respectively.

2003b). In the case of lack of data, information may be gathered based on: a) habitat and population condition of the said species; b) other scientific and technical information concerning population and habitat of the said species; c) actual harvest (realisation) of previous years; and d) traditional knowledge(Anon., 2003b). The CITES MA shall assess the recommendation of the SA and then finalise a harvest orcapture quota for the species. Harvest or capture quota refers to the total number of individuals that canbe harvested or captured within one calendar year. A certain number of these (about 10%) are usually forlocal use while the remainder constitutes the export quota. On the basis of technical management considerations, the CITES MA may establish a lower but not a higher quota than the one recommended bythe SA (Anon., 2003b).

Quota setting for non-protected and non-CITES species does not require extensive surveys but limits ondimensions such as length, maximum or minimum weight, size/age class, sex, harvest or capture locationsand the period of harvest or capture as recommended by the CITES Scientific Authority suffice (Anon.,2003b).

The export quota designates the quantity that can be exported in a certain calendar year. However, sometimes specimens which have been already obtained in one calendar year period were not exported inthe year in which they were harvested. In such case, the Indonesian CITES MA allows the export until 31March of the following year provided that the export permits are issued before 31 December of the yearfor which the quota was established (Djati Witjaksono Hadi, Head BKSDA Sumut I, in litt. to the researcher, 5 June 2006). The quota for the following calendar year remains unchanged in that instance.According to the CITES guidelines for Management of Nationally Established Quotas a Party should onlyexceptionally authorize the export of remaining quota in the following year (Anon., 2006b).

The national harvest quota for a species is further divided among the Indonesian provinces (Table 2). Theprovincial quotas are also based on recommendations from the SA, which shall technically consider thedistribution and abundance of the species in the various provinces of the country. However, in case thesedata are lacking, the provincial quotas are set based on the realisation data of the previous year and on thetrade activity in the area (PHKA-KKH personnel, pers. comm. to the researcher, March, 2006). They usually remain the same over the years but might be changed on a yearly basis.

In 2000, the trade of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle was regulated for the first time under CITES. Thequota was first only 6000 individuals (Anon., 1999a) the minimum record compared to previous recommendations and later quotas. In 2001, after the inclusion of Cuora spp. in Appendix II on 19 July2000, the harvest and export quotas of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle were increased to 20 000 and 18000, respectively (Anon., 2001a). Persistent market demand and demand from traders to satisfy the market seem to have imposed pressure on the CITES SA and MA to increase the quota, possibly implyingthat because trade is now internationally regulated, demand has increased. From 2001 until 2006, the annual harvest and export quotas remained at the same level (Anon., 2001a, 2002a, 2003a, d, 2004a,2006a). Among all Indonesia’s Testudine species, this is the highest quota after the Asian Softshell Turtle,which has a quota of 28 000. In preparation for the annual quota-setting meeting in November 2006, theCITES MA had proposed to increase the quotas for these two species, the proposal was however notaccepted

Observations during the framework of this study give reason to believe that the demand for certain freshwater turtle species increased after their conservation status was upgraded. This hypothesis is based


on the number of individuals encountered in trade and on the statements of traders that demand in the twospecies has increased over the past few years. For example, once the Asian Softshell Turtle became listedin Appendix II, its quota increased instead of being reduced. The same trend was apparent with theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle; the demand for this species increased after its trade became regulated underCITES.

Samedi and Iskandar (2000) questioned the basis for establishing annual quotas, as the process depends ondata availability. In many cases, there is little or no information on the species, its population status, ecology and distribution. LIPI lacks staff and financial support to conduct population studies. Hence, harvest and export quotas are usually set based on previous export realisation data (LIPI and PHKA staff,pers. comm. to the researcher, 2006). It is obvious that provincial quotas are also not based on scientificsurveys. For example, in 1998, PHKA had recommended a harvest “quota”4 of 37 500 Southeast AsianBox Turtles for Papua (WWF Sahul Region, 1999), a Province not included in the geographic range of thespecies. It was already noticed by Samedi and Iskandar (2000) that the Southeast Asian Box Turtle as wellas other reptile species that are not native to the Province of Papua were listed for trade. It is assumed thatthis was done to “legalize” shipments of protected species that had a high demand outside of Papua. Yet,


Table 2:Provincial harvest quotas of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in Indonesia in the period 2000-2006

*Until 2001 Southern Sulawesi was one administrative province. Only in 2002 the province was split into Sulsel I and II

Province 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Jabar I - 2000 2000 2000 - - -

Jateng - 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000

Sulsel* 1900 10000 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Sulsel I n.a. n.a. 4000 4000 2000 2000 500

Sulsel II n.a. n.a. 3000 3000 1500 1500 500

Maluku - - - - 1500 1500 500

Sulut - 1000 1000 1000 - - -

Sumut I - - 2000 2000 2000 2000 4000

Sumut II - - 1000 1000 - - -

Riau 100 2000 2000 2000 2500 2500 2500

Sumsel 3000 1000 1000 1000 2500 2500 1000

Kalbar - - - - 1000 1000 2000

Kalsel - 3000 3000 3000 1000 1000 2000

Kalteng - - - - 2000 2000 1000

Kaltim 1000 - - - 3000 3000 5000

TOTAL 6000 20 000 20 000 20 000 20 000 20 000 20 000

4 The Southeast Asian Box Turtle had no binding export quota then since it was not yet included in Appendix II of CITES.

at the same time, provinces that are renowned for the occurrence of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle suchas Jambi and Lampung in Sumatra never had a harvest quota.

Kalimantan was only allocated a higher quota when consumption traders first registered with BKSDA andPHKA in 2004 and 2005, respectively (Table 2 and Figure 16). Java is over-populated by humans, and allof its natural resources including the Indonesian Box Turtle are heavily exploited; accordingly the quotahas always been low. Indonesian Box Turtles from Sumatra have always been the main supply for the pettraders in Jakarta/Bogor, hence, Sumatra’s quota has remained relatively stable over the years (Figure 16). Sulawesi is the second most important source for Indonesian Box Turtles offered as pets. All of the pettraders have suppliers in Sulawesi because the island is an important source of a number of endemic reptile species. Kalimantan on the other hand has never played a major role as source for pet species witha wide geographic range since logistics are not in place and transportation too expensive compared toSumatra and Sulawesi. The Kalimantan quota was always kept at a minimum just enough to satisfy theneeds for dividing the national quota among the provinces. This changed with the increase of the consumption trade.

Procedure guideline: Once the annual national and provincial quotas are set, the head of the CITESManagement Authority informs the heads of the Regional Offices (BKSDA) and the Chairman of theIndonesian Reptile and Amphibian Trade Association (IRATA) about the allocated numbers. The Heads ofBKSDA will designate locations of harvest or capture within the province taking into account the legal


Figure 16:Relative distribution of the Indonesian harvest quota of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle among the four mainisland groups

status of the location, population abundance, habitat condition, land use plan and cultural aspects of thelocal community. The harvest or capture location as identified by the Head of BKSDA should mention atleast village name, subdistrict name, district name, geographic or map coordinates. To ensure populationsustainability, harvest or capture locations shall undertake a rotation whereby the rotation period dependson the population condition, habitat, biological characteristics, and the behavioural ecology of the species.The established quota and locations for the harvest or capture then constitutes the basis for the issuance ofPermits for Harvest or Capture (Izin Penangkapan Satwa Liar Yang Tidak Dilindungi Undang-Undang).

Purpose of export

The quota system also stipulates the purpose of export. Under the Indonesian quota system, the SoutheastAsian Box Turtle and other freshwater turtles and tortoises may only be exported live; the export of deadanimals, parts (carapace or plastron) or derivatives is illegal.

There are two possible export purposes: “pet” or “live”. If the purpose is declared as ‘pet’, specimens canonly be exported for the pet trade (George Saputra, IRATA Chairman, pers. comm. to the researcher, 6March 2006). Pet Southeast Asian Box Turtles are usually exported to Europe, the US or Japan.Companies that trade reptile for the international pet trade must be members of IRATA. IRATA membersdeal with live reptiles for the pet trade or with reptile skins but they do not trade meat.

If the purpose is declared as “live”, it encompasses more than the pet trade since live specimens may bedestined for the pet trade and/or for the meat trade that uses live animals. Destinations of the SoutheastAsian Box Turtle for the meat or so-called “consumption” trade are Hong Kong SAR and mainland China(George Saputra, IRATA Chairman, pers. comm. to the researcher, 6 March 2006). The consumption tradeis carried out by exporters who are not organized as an association but are directly registered with PHKA,the CITES MA.

From 2000 to 2005, the entire export quota of the species was intended for the pet trade to be handledexclusively by IRATA members. Towards the end of 2005, when IRATA members had so far realizedexports of 11 327 individuals, the Indonesian MA permitted consumption traders to export the remainingindividuals to food markets in East Asia. In 2006, the CITES MA allowed the Southeast Asian Box Turtleto be traded for consumption by changing the purpose from “pet” to “live”. Of the total 18 000 individuals, 6000 were allocated to the pet traders and 12 000 to the consumption traders. According tothe MA, this division was made based on previous export realisation data of the pet traders who usuallydid not export more than 6000 individuals annually (Samedi, ID CITES MA, pers. comm. to the researcher, 6 March 2006). However, this statement contradicts the export statistics, which indicate thatbetween 13 000 and 16 000 individuals were exported annually in 2001-2005 (George Saputra, IRATAChairman, Jakarta, Indonesia, in litt. to the researcher, 14 Sept. 2006, Table 3).

Samedi (ID CITES MA, pers. comm. to the researcher, 6 March 2006) explained this change in purposeand the opening of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle for the consumption trade to China was due to the inability of the IRATA members to fulfil the annual export quota of 18 000 individuals. Instead of lowering the national quota or accepting that the quota would not be fulfilled, the Indonesian CITESAuthorities decided to transfer it to the consumption trade (Samedi, ID CITES MA, pers. comm. to theresearcher, 6 March 2006). However, as indicated in Doc 21 of the 54th CITES Standing Committee, an annual export quota is not a target and there is no need for a quota to be fully used (Anon., 2006b).


The change of the export purpose from “pet” to “live” and the concurrent opening of the trade for “consumption” managed by non-IRATA members is criticised by most IRATA members (George Saputra,IRATA Chairman, pers. comm. to the researcher, 6 March 2006). It is against previous agreements withPHKA and the policies of the Association, which state that the Southeast Asian Box Turtle exporters haveto be members of the Association and therefore follow the rules and regulations of the Association. Theconsumption traders are not organized as an Association and the division of their quota solely depends onthe discretion of the CITES MA. Furthermore, the consumption trade of the species is perceived as muchmore lucrative than the pet trade since it involves much higher volumes and different market destinations.The change in policy to allow exports of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle for the consumption trade therefore constitutes a conflict of interest and competition among the two trader groups. The conflict iscompounded by the fact that the total quota of each pet trader is further divided among the variousprovinces and a pet trader with 200 individuals, for example, is required to collect some individuals inSulawesi, some in Sumatra and some in Kalimantan. Since most pet exporters are located around Jakartaand Bogor, the collection of only few animals from distant provinces constitute financial and logisticalproblems (IRATA members, pers. comm. to the researcher, March-April 2006). Consumption traders, bycomparison, receive their quota in the province of residence/registration of the company.

In an attempt to solve the conflict between IRATA members and consumption traders, the then Director ofthe CITES MA announced his intention to encourage consumption traders to become members of IRATA(Adi Susmianto, in litt. to TRAFFIC SEA, 10 Nov. 2006). Following that, the two trader groups met during the annual quota-setting meeting on 28 November 2006. However, interests of the two groups aretoo different and the meeting did not lead to closer cooperation or fusion of the two groups as intended bythe CITES MA (Chris Shepherd, TRAFFIC SEA, pers. comm. to the researcher, 13 Aug. 2007). The onlychange that resulted was the official changing of the export purpose for the Southeast Asian Box Turtlefrom ‘live’ back to ‘pet’ (Anon., 2007). This is however contradictory to the definition of the purpose ofexport (see above) where ‘pet’ is delimited to the pet trade excluding consumption trade.

Permits and procedures

All Indonesian species of plants and animals are categorized as either nationally protected or unprotected.Unprotected and/or non-CITES turtle species are managed as a fisheries resource under the administrationof the Department of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (Departemen Kelautan dan Perikanan, DKP) that issuescapture and export permits. Nationally Protected and CITES-listed turtle species are under the


Table 3:Export realisation of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle by IRATA members from 2000-2005

Year No. of individuals

2000 5 990

2001 16 538

2002 14 655

2003 13 071

2004 17 353

2005 17 827

administration of the Department of Forestry that sets annual harvest and export quotas (Table 4). This distribution of species among authorities has led to considerable confusion. Lack of species identificationskills among law enforcement officers is one of the reasons that shipments of ‘protected’ turtles that weredeclared ‘unprotected’ passed Customs inspection. Concern about the relative inability of staff of


Table 4:National and international protection / conservation status of Indonesian freshwater turtlesand tortoises

Quota

2006

1 Amyda cartilaginea VU Not Protected II 28 000

2 Batagur baska CE Protected I 0

3 Callagur borneoensis CE Not Protected II 0

4 Carettochelys insculpta VU Protected - 0

5 Chelodina mccordi CE Not Protected II 0

6 Chelodina novaeguineae LR Protected - 0

7 Chelodina parkeri VU Not Protected - 300

8 Chelodina reimanni LR Not Protected - 200

9 Chelodina siebenrocki LR Not Protected - 2000

10 Chitra chitra CE Protected II 0

11 Cuora amboinensis VU Not Protected II 20 000

12 Cyclemys dentata LR Not Protected - 15 000

13 Cyclemys oldhami LR Not Protected - treated as C. dentata

14 Dogania subplana LR Not Protected - 5000

15 Elseya branderhorstii VU Not protected - 0

16 Elseya novaeguineae LR Protected - 0

17 Elseya schultzei not listed Not Protected - 1000

18 Emydura subglobosa LR Not Protected - 1000

19 Heosemys spinosa E Not Protected II 2000

20 Indotestudo elongata VU Protected II 0

21 Indotestudo forstenii E Protected II 500

22 Leucocephalon yuwonoi CE Not Protected II 200

23 Malayemys subtrijuga VU Not Protected II 500

24 Manouria emys E Protected II 500

25 Notochelys platynota VU Not Protected II 1500

26 Orlitia borneensis E Protected II 0

27 Pelochelys bibroni VU Not Protected II 100

28 Pelochelys cantorii E Not Protected II 200

29 Siebenrockiella crassicollis VU Not Protected II 5000

CITES AppendixNo Species IUCN 2007

StatusNational Legal

Status

enforcement bodies to identify the various turtle species was already expressed earlier by Shepherd (2000).Freshwater turtle species including the Southeast Asian Box Turtle that have recently changed conservation status and became listed in Appendix II of CITES have increased confusion. From being anunprotected species that could be exported without limitation, the species’ export became regulated througha quota system which requires CITES export permits. Such change in conservation status also goes alongwith a change in management from the DKP to the Forestry Department. Species identification and anupdated knowledge on CITES species is imperative for enforcement officers. In addition to the confusionthat is caused among enforcement personnel, such a turnover of authority also implies that harvest andexport statistics are incomplete and insufficient for species management since the DKP for example lumpsturtles under either Kura Kura (hard-shelled turtles) or Labi Labi (softshell turtles) but does not distinguishbetween species.

The rules and regulations governing the collection, distribution and trade of wildlife are based on theRepublic Act No 5 of 1990 Concerning the Conservation of Living Resources and their Ecosystems (Anon.,1990), the Government Regulations No. 8 of 1999 (Anon., 1999b), and the Decree of the Ministry ofForestry No. 447/Kpts-II/2003 (Anon., 2003b). The latter clarifies that “Utilization of wild plants and animals species shall be based on the precautionary principle and non-detriment findings as set out inArticle III, IV and V of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna andFlora (CITES)”. The trade of wild caught Southeast Asian Box Turtles (and other CITES Appendix II-listed species) requires at least the following permits (Box 3):

1. Permit for Domestic Distribution or Domestic Trade, where “distribution” is defined as anyactivity for distributing specimens, which may include transport, keeping, collection of specimens harvested or captured from the wild or from captive management. This is issued by the Head of BKSDA,granted for five years but only to registered business establishments. The permit is needed by suppliersand exporters.

2. Permit for Foreign Distribution, issued by Directorate General of CITES MA for the international trade in the species to registered business establishments, granted for five years and needed by exporters only.

3. Permit for Harvest or Capture (Izin Penangkapan Satwa Liar Yang Tidak Dilindungi Undang-Undang), issued by Head of BKSDA, granted for one year, allows in accordance with quota and designated location of harvest or capture, the harvest or capture from the wild. Designated harvest or capture locations should be either stated in the permit itself or in an attachment to the permit. Needed byany registered supplying or exporting company and their registered collectors.

4. Permit for Domestic Transportation of Wild Plants and Animals (Surat Angkut Timbuhan DanSatwa Liar Dalam Negeri, SATS-DN), needed for activities of distributing specimens within the countryfor the purpose of obtaining economic benefit, only provided to registered domestic distributors, issued byHead of BKSDA, valid for one shipment and maximum two months.

5. Permit for Foreign Transportation of Wild Plants and Animals (Surat Angkut Timbuhan DanSatwa Liar Luar Negeri, SATS-LN), needed for activities of distributing specimens from or to a foreign country for the purpose of obtaining economic benefit, only provided to registered foreign distributors. It


constitutes a CITES permit5 or certificate for CITES listed species and is issued by the Director Generalof MA, valid for the maximum period of six months. The CITES permit should stipulate the number ofindividuals for which the permit is issued over the total quota of the species for the year.

The Ministerial Decree 447 emphasises that harvest or captures should not exceed the quota, harvest orcapture should be within the designated locations and regions, should not be detrimental to the wild population, and that harvested or captured animals should not receive any injuries due to mishandling(Anon., 2003b). The control should be exceeded by the heads of the regional offices as follows:

• The heads of BKSDA shall conduct inspection and control the trade of wild caught animals in animal markets and other places selling specimens, such as restaurants, traditional medicine shops and souvenir shops. Traders need authentic evidence that the specimens were legally acquired.

• Every holder of a Permit for Harvest or Capture for trade purposes shall make records and submitreports concerning the stockpile of wild plants or animals to the Head of BKSDA on a monthly basis. TheHead of BKSDA shall cross check those reports and report to the Director General on all the permits he/shehas granted.

• Head of Regional Office or authorized customs or quarantine officers shall verify SATS-LN permits in the place of packaging.

• Head of Regional Office or authorized customs or quarantine officers shall check whether thepackaging follows the international standard for transport of animals by air of the International AirTransportation Association (IATA). After inspection, containers shall be sealed.


5 A non-CITES permit or certificate is required for non-CITES species.


Box 3:Flow chart indicating the different steps procedures and permits needed for the trade of the Southeast Asian BoxTurtle and other CITES II listed animals

Permit for Domestic Distribution (Supplier)

Permit for Foreign Distribution (Exporter)

Permit for Harvest or Capture

Permit for Domestic Transportation (SATS-DN)

Packaging Standards

Domestic Health Certificate

Sealing of Containers

Permit for Foreign Transportation (SATS-LN)

International Health Certificate

IATA Regulations

Sealing of Containers

Copies of all export documents are to be sent to the CITES MA and serve as basis inpreparing the annual CITES report

Shipment

Quarantine officers under the management of DKP are in charge of checking the health of freshwater turtles. The export of wildlife requires two quarantine checks: 1) at the quarantine office nearest to theplace of collection in preparation of shipment to the place/port of export; and 2) at the quarantine office ofthe International Airport/Seaport to be used for shipment abroad (Anon., 2002d). The CITES MA inIndonesia has designated 21 ports in 16 cities on nine islands (Annex 3) for the entry and exit of specimensof species listed in the CITES Appendices (Anon., 1999d). The first inspection needs the issuance of aDomestic Health Certificate (Sertifikat Kesekatan Ikan Domestik) and the second an International HealthCertificate. The health inspection should involve visual (species, number and size, and eventual morphologic disorder) and/or laboratory examination (Anon., 2002d). Upon issuance and payment of anadministrative fee, the Health Certificate is accompanied by either a SATS-DN (domestic) or by a SATS-LN (international). Copies are to be sent to the General Director of the MA. Surveys and interviews during the present study have revealed that health certificates are usually issued without inspection of theanimals. Furthermore, it was noted that the administration fee for health certificates is not standardizedand varies among the different provinces. Often containers are sealed without any health and/or SATS-DNand SATS-LN inspection.

A major change of the animal, fish, and plant quarantine jurisdiction was made in July 2001. In line withthe separation of the administration authorities in the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sectors into different ministries, the mandate to carry out animal, fish, and plant quarantine was divided between thedifferent agencies. Accordingly, the former quarantine agency, the Centre for Agricultural Quarantine,which had been mandated to carry out animal, fish, and plant quarantine was dissolved. Today, the mandate is with the Centre for Fish Quarantine (CFQ) – an agency under the Ministry of Marine Affairsand Fisheries (Anon., 2002d). During the present survey though no CFQ was ever encountered, but ratherthe former old names are maintained: 1) Fish Quarantine (Karantina Ikan), 2) Animal Quarantine(Karantina Hewan), and 3) Plant Quarantine. It remains unclear which of the former offices is responsible for freshwater turtles. When the management of freshwater turtles was still handled by theFisheries Department, Fish Quarantine conducted the inspection. With the switch of responsibility to theForestry Department, there seems to be the belief that turtles should now be inspected by the Animal


Box 4:Regulations for the transport of live animals by the International Air Transportation Association(IATA).

The IATA Live Animals Regulations (LAR) outlines how to transport live animals safely so they arrive in goodhealth. They specify the minimum requirements for the international transport of animals and wildlife, and indicate what precautions airlines, shippers, cargo agents and animal care professionals should take on the groundand in the air. European Union (EU) and many other countries enforce IATA LAR for the import and export oflive animals. CITES has adopted these regulations as its official guidelines for transportation of live CITES-listedanimal specimens and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has recommended these regulations forthe air transport of live animals. LAR is annually revised. The shipment of live animals, including turtles, underLAR requires that each animal enclosed in the container must have enough space to turn about normally whilestanding, to stand and sit erect, and to lie in a natural position. Airlines that are full members of IATA, includingGaruda Indonesia, require that transport of live animals (whether transported in cabin or cargo) adhere to theIATA LAR. Specific turtle regulations are provided under container requirement 43, which prohibits stacking ofanimals and requires sufficient space that animals can extend their head and limbs

Quarantine. According to Quarantine Officers in Jakarta, Animal Quarantine is in charge of the inspectionof hard-shelled turtle species while Fish Quarantine is in charge of the inspection of softshell turtles andtheir by-products (Main Office of Karantina Hewan Besar, Jakarta, pers. comm. to the researcher, 12 July2006). Pet exporters in Jakarta confirmed that turtles are usually inspected by the Animal Quarantine ratherthan by the Fish Quarantine (Anon. pet trader, Jakarta, pers. comm. to the researcher, 21 March 2006). Inthe provinces however, the Fish Quarantine seems to be in charge.

During the course of this research, all for this study requested health certificates were issued by FishQuarantine offices. There were four shipments of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle from the provincial capitals of Pekanbaru, Balikpapan (twice), and Banjarmasin to Jakarta. It was observed that the animalswere not properly identified and their health was not inspected. Based on the researcher’s observationsduring the survey, health certificates are usually issued without inspection of the animals. If a shipment isexamined, the health condition is usually not inspected but only the quantity and quality (species) of theshipment is noted.

The Director General of the CITES MA shall submit annual reports to the CITES Secretariat (the latest inOctober of the following year)6 based on the actual transaction of export, import, re-export and introduction from the sea. However, these do not reflect the number of actually exported individuals butrather the numbers for which SATS-LN were issued, which does not necessarily mean that the SATS-LNwere realised or that the numbers in the SATS-LN coincide with the numbers that were exported.

Quantity and quality of trade of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle

Past trade levels

International trade, both legal and illegal, of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle was and is still significant involume (van Dijk et al., 2000; Cheung and Dudgeon, 2006). It is the most abundant species in trade inSoutheast Asia, and Indonesia together with Malaysia are the two major range State exporters (Anon.,2002b). Indonesia has historically exported the species in enormous numbers mainly for food markets inHong Kong and mainland China (Fritz and Gaulke, 1997; Artner and Hofer, 2000; Shepherd, 2000). TheSoutheast Asian Box Turtle has always been the major species for food and TCM trade (Ades et al., 2000;Cheung and Dudgeon, 2006). Senneke and Tabaka (2002) however stated that the Southeast Asian BoxTurtle only became the most common hard-shelled chelonian species found in food and medicine marketsof Southern China after the Reeve’s Turtle Chinemys reevesii had been over-collected. However, the latter cannot be supported with statistical data (UNEP-WCMC CITES Trade Database, 2007).

Information on the export volumes of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle from Indonesia for the period beforethe species was included in CITES Appendix II in 2000 is incomplete and not readily available. Until 2000,the species was managed in Indonesia as a fishery resource under DKP, which used to merge allGeoemydidae spp. (Asian freshwater turtles) together under the category “kura kura” or hard-shelled turtle. Available Indonesian data suggest unlimited exploitation in 1990, followed by an annual exportallotment of 10 000 individuals for the years 1991 to 1994 (Jenkins, 1995). The Asian Turtle Trade


6 During the course of the study, the 2006 annual report was submitted on 28 November 2006.

Working Group estimated Indonesian exports in the species at about 1 million individuals annually (vanDijk et al., 2000). In only one Chinese market (Qing Ping Market in Guangzhou), 1000 individuals wereobserved daily in 1995 (Altherr and Freyer, 2000), 1998 and 1999 (Anon., 1999c). In addition to mainlandChina, Hong Kong SAR is a consumer but also functions as an important transit centre for turtles due toits good port and airport facilities, free trade practice, and convertible currency (Lau et al., 2000). Thesame authors observed the Southeast Asian Box Turtle among the 10 most heavily traded chelonians during 1998-1999. It was consistently present in the food (consumption) trade.

A survey of Artner and Hofer (2000) of the Qing Ping Free Market, the largest open-access Chinese market selling live turtles in November 2000, revealed that the species was still abundant in trade despiteits listing as Appendix II species of CITES in the same year. Lee et al. (2004) who surveyed major wildanimal markets and shops in Guangzhou and Shenzhen from 2000-2003 found the Southeast Asian BoxTurtle as the most numerous turtle species in trade. The authors found the trade to involve many differentspecies and the volume believed to be larger than during the 1993-1994 surveys by Lau et al. (1995).

Official export statistics show that 37 000 Southeast Asian Box Turtles were exported from Sumatra alonein 1988 (van de Bunt, 1990 as cited in Jenkins, 1995), and approximately 200 000 individuals fromSouthern Sulawesi alone in 1991 (Collins, 1998 as cited in Anon., 1999c). Between November 1993 andOctober 1994, 147 344 individuals were officially exported from Indonesia (Lau et al., 1995). TheIndonesian Fisheries Department recorded the export of 423 100 and 396 719 individuals of assorted freshwater turtles and tortoises in 1997 and 1998, respectively (Samedi and Iskandar, 2000).Unfortunately, they could not provide specific data for the Southeast Asian Box Turtle alone. During thesame period, TRAFFIC had conducted surveys and concluded that the official records were underestimating actual exports and that about 5000 tonnes of freshwater turtles were exported annuallyduring those years and further estimated that 61.3% of all traded freshwater turtles in 1998, and 47% ofthose traded in 1999 were Southeast Asian Box Turtles (Anon., 2001b). Adopting TRAFFIC’s estimate, itcan be extrapolated that 2 350 000 or 47% in 1999 and 3 065 000 or 61.3% in 1998 of the estimated totalexports may have been Southeast Asian Box Turtles.

Since the listing of the species in CITES Appendix II, data are available from the UNEP-WCMC CITESTrade Database (2007); two data sets were extracted:

1. the export of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle as reported by Indonesia; and 2. the imports by importing countries.

In addition and for comparison, the export realisation records of the pet traders association are provided(George Saputra, IRATA Chairman, Jakarta, Indonesia, in litt. to the researcher, 14 Sept. 2006). The comparison between these three data sets reveals some discrepancies. First, the reported exports for theyears 2003, 2004 and 2006 are lower than the reported imports and lower than the export realisation recordsof IRATA7 (Figure 17). The difference in reporting is largest in 2004, where Indonesia reported a total of15 700 exports while importing countries report the sum of 25 577, of which 20 500 were imported byMalaysia alone (UNEP WCMC CITES Trade Database, 2007). For the years 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2005,the reported imports were lower than the reported exports which might be explained by the fact that non-


7 No IRATA export records for 2006 are available.

CITES member countries do not have to report their imports. In all years, except 2005, IRATA’s recordsare slightly higher than or even almost twice as high as the exports reported by the ID CITES MA.

Incidents of illegal trade of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle continue to be reported by the press until today.On 12 July 2002, Customs officials at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta foiled an attempt toexport illegally 1526 live turtles, 1423 of which were Southeast Asian Box Turtles (Anon., 2002b). Theturtles had arrived from Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan) and were reportedly bound for the food and medicine trade in Ghuangzou, China. In the first six months of 2006, two seizures of Southeast Asian BoxTurtle shipments took place. On 14 January 2006, the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department seized602 kg of Southeast Asian Box Turtle plastrons and 35 kg of Malayan Giant Turtle plastrons, worth aboutUSD 224 250 (Anon., 2006c). The plastrons were shipped from Indonesia to Hong Kong, reportedly forre-export to China. On 13 June 2006, 2520 Southeast Asian Box Turtles were seized in Singapore’s JurongFishing Port from Tembilahan in Sumatra, Indonesia. The captain of the Indonesian ship pleaded guilty toillegally transporting the turtles, and was sentenced to a term of five months imprisonment and finedapproximately USD 12 545. Many of the illegal shipments have forged CITES export permits.

The Southeast Asian Box Turtle had always commanded lower prices in pet markets than in consumptionmarkets and the volumes traded for the pet market have always been of lesser economic value and importance compared to the food trade (Altherr and Freyer, 2000). Despite the above, the species has been popular in the US, Europe and Japan pet trade for many years. Yuwono (1998) and Altherr and Freyer(2000) stated the species was exported by hundreds or even thousands to western pet shops from Indonesia.Schlaepfer et al. (2005) who analysed import and export data based on records of the US Fish and Wildlife


0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Year

No.

of i

ndiv

idua

ls

Reported export by ID

IRATA export records

Reported import

Figure 17:Reported exports and reported imports of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle after its inclusion under Appendix IIof CITES

Service (USFWS) Law Enforcement Management Information System (LEMIS) revealed that 48 335 livewild-caught Southeast Asian Box Turtles – most of which had originated from Indonesia - had been exported to the US between 1998 and 2002.


Box 5:Review of Significant Trade

In 2002, during the 18th Meeting of the CITES Animals Committee (AC 18), the Southeast Asian Box Turtle wasrecommended under Decision 11.106 for inclusion in Category 1 on the basis of apparently high levels of unreported trade from a number of range States coupled with an apparent decline in the availability of individuals as evidenced by increasing prices (Anon., 2002b). During the said meeting the working group formulated questions to be posed to Indonesia (and Malaysia), for example what is the scientific basis for the quotas established by Indonesia and Malaysia (Anon., 2002b). Indonesia was requested to explain the basis for itsquota and the distribution of the species in the country, especially since it was noted that Papua had been allocated a quota although the species does not occur in that Province. Indonesia was also questioned on thebasis for the establishment of the quotas in compliance with Article IV and on the role of the different institutions (MA, SA and DKP) in this matter.

In the Summary Record of AC19, Indonesia claimed that distribution and habitat were ample and widespread for the species and that 18 000 individuals was a conservative quota (Anon., 2003c). The CITESSecretariat reported that there had never been a thorough study of the species, and no information was provided to the Secretariat on the basis of the quota or how it was set. There was also no evidence of an actual non-detriment finding (Anon., 2003c).

During the 13th Conference of the Parties held in Bangkok in 2004, it was reported that the trade of theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle was still of ‘urgent concern’ under Review of Significant Trade (Anon., 2004b). Finally,in May 2005 the following recommendations were formulated for the CITES MA of Indonesia (Anon., 2005b), andsent on August 17, 2005:

The Indonesian CITES MA should review the annual export quota of the species, and commit to undertake a status assessment and field study of the species to be completed within 24 months, and to develop and implement an adaptivemanagement program for the species on the basis of the subsequent results.

During the 54th Standing Committee held from 2-6 October 2006 in Geneva, in the document on the ‘Reviewof Significant Trade’ Indonesia’s responses are presented (Anon., 2006c):

“In its response to the recommendations, Indonesia explained on what basis it established annual export quotas for thisspecies in compliance with Article IV, paragraphs 2 (a) and 3.The species, Indonesia’s most common freshwater turtle, wasreportedly widespread in the western part of the country and abundant in most areas with natural or man-made wetlands, including rice fields and fish ponds. Catch and export quotas were reduced from 500,000 animals per yearbefore its inclusion in Appendix II to 90,000 specimens in 1999 and 18,000 since 2001. Animals may only be exportedfor the pet trade, as export of the species for food consumption has temporarily been halted.The level of utilization inIndonesia is believed to be sustainable as numbers and sizes of animals that are harvested remains stable, and no declinesin the abundance of wild populations has been observed. Starting in 2006, Indonesia planned to undertake a status assessment and field study of the species with support from TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.”

The statement of Altherr and Freyer (2000) that the Southeast Asian Box Turtle and its congeners wereunder immense market pressure, which may result in extinction within the space of a few years, remainstrue. In addition to the Southeast Asian Box Turtle, all wild populations of Cuora species have declinedwithin a single decade (Anon., 1999c; IUCN, 2007). The main reasons are unsustainable trade to meet thegrowing demand of Asian food markets and the low reproductive potential of these long-lived animals. Forthe Southeast Asian Box Turtle, the number of individuals collected from the wild is not compatible withwhat is known about the current distribution and biological characteristics (Schlaepfer et al., 2005), including what has been observed by TRAFFIC during this research. Many turtle and tortoise speciesdepend on high adult survivorship to offset high egg and juvenile mortality in the wild. Removing even asmall fraction of adults can cause a population to decline or can delay population recovery (e.g., Congdonet al., 1994; Heppell, 1998). Schlaepfer et al. (2005) argue that the status of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle– and that of other freshwater turtles and tortoise species – is so dire that the trade of wild-caught animalsshould be halted or severely reduced. The species, despite its CITES status, is not adequately protected against over-collection due to weak law enforcement and unsustainable levels of illegal trade. The volumeof animals legally taken from the wild for the US market alone is large enough to potentially extirpate localpopulations or in the worst case the species itself. Lau et al. (2000) stated that for widespread and


Based on this explanation, the Secretariat in consultation with the Chairman of the AC determined that Indonesiahad implemented the recommendations and, pending the agreement of the Chairman of the SC, would be notifying Indonesia that it had been removed from the Review of Significant Trade with respect to the SoutheastAsian Box Turtle (Anon., 2006c).

Results of the present survey show however that Indonesia has not yet conducted any comprehensive field survey, and data needed for a non-detrimental finding on the Southeast Asian Box Turtle that could accuratelygauge either the status of wild populations or determine that the current levels of exploitation are not detrimental to the survival of the species, are not available. Furthermore, the species was and is not only exported for the pet trade but since 2005, Indonesian consumption traders were allowed to export animals tothe food markets of China. In 2006, they were officially allocated an export quota of 10 000 individuals whileonly 6000 remained for the pet export by registered IRATA members and 2000 for local utilisation. Indonesiafurther stated that it did not observe any decline in the abundance of wild populations. However, there has beenno long-term study conducted to show that numbers and sizes of Southeast Asian Box Turtles harvested fromIndonesia remain stable.

Contrary to Indonesia’s response as given in SC54 Review of Significant Trade (Anon., 2006c, see above), the SC54Summary Record reads as follows (Anon., 2006d):

“The Secretariat drew attention to paragraphs 36 and 38 of the document, summarizing the responses from Indonesiaand Malaysia to recommendations formulated by the Animals Committee, and the determinations thereof by theSecretariat, in consultation with the Chairman of the Animals Committee, in paragraphs 37 and 39.

Indonesia clarified that it was undertaking status assessments and field studies with support from TRAFFIC Southeast Asia,and that its annual export quota of Cuora amboinensis (18,000 live specimens) comprised animals for both the pet andfood trade.”

In effect, Indonesia presented the research for the present report as its NDF process.

presumably common Asian turtles like the Southeast Asian Box Turtle, the large scale exploitation for thefood trade is most likely unsustainable and efforts should be directed towards detailed in-situ conservationmeasures and ecological studies of such species. Results of this study indicate that populations continueto decline in the selected study areas, suggesting harvest for legal trade should be strictly regulated, andillegal trade must be addressed seriously.

Current trade levels

Local utilization

During the two visits to Jakarta’s Barito Market, a total of 52 and 71 Southeast Asian Box Turtles wereencountered, respectively (Table 5). Among the 33 stalls, eight offered the species for sale. All sizes andlife history stages ranging from small/juvenile, medium/subadult, to large/adult were for sale. The pricefor one individual ranged from USD 3.26 for a small individual to USD 10.85 for a large individual inMarch (Table 5), and from USD 3.26-6.51 in April. The vendors declared that the animals were mainly forlocal consumption. Palembang (Sumatra) was repeatedly mentioned as one of the major sources of thespecies for the Jakarta market. The Fancy Pets Centre at Blok M Plaza Lt. IV had, during all visits, numerous – mainly exotic – turtle species for sale. Only once in June, a Southeast Asian Box Turtles forUSD 5.43/specimen was available for sale. Shepherd and Nijman (2007) had surveyed some of Jakarta’spet and animal markets from Aug.–Nov. 2004. Over the entire survey period, they counted a total of 395individuals of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle.

In Makassar (Sulawesi), turtles were encountered in three premises (Hobbie Aquarium, Fish Market andPasar Hobby). However, most of these stores only had American Red-eared Sliders. Hobbie Aquariumoffered the Southeast Asian Box Turtle occasionally, and a store owner at the fish market said that he couldget juveniles upon request and sell them for USD 13.57/individual (Table 5). He mentioned that the specieswas not common. According to several respondents, the species was consumed locally as food in Palopo.

Six of the 10 shops along Jl. Thamrin in Medan offered turtles for sale but only two were selling SoutheastAsian Box Turtles (Table 5). KH. Aquarium, Jl. Thamrin No. 75A had five adult individuals that were soldfor USD 2.71/individual, and CV Bonavide Aquarium Tetap Jaya, Jl. Thamrin No. 71 had two adults forUSD 5.43 each. A survey in 2001 found the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in Golden Fish Aquarium and K.H.Aquarium (Chris Shepherd, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, in litt. to the researcher, 17 Nov. 2006), countingeight and 12 juvenile individuals, respectively. They were sold for USD 1.07/individual, which is less thanhalf the price quoted by KH. Aquarium in 2006. Shepherd noted that only juveniles were for local salewhile adults were most likely exported for consumption.

The aquarium shops along Jl. Letjen MT Haryono did not sell native turtle species and only one of themsold Red-eared Sliders. In the bird market along Jl. Bintang, only one shop sold turtles at the time of thesurvey. They had nine adult Southeast Asian Box Turtles on sale for USD 5.43 each, and the store ownerpromised that she could get as many individuals as wanted including juveniles. Ethnic Chinese usuallypurchase the species in preparation of traditional medicine or for religious beliefs. Among the varioussmall fish stalls along a small road parallel to Jl. Letjen Haryono were two no-name stores that also soldthe Southeast Asian Box Turtle. The first shop sold adults for USD 5.43 per individual. The owner saidthat if requested he could get weekly regular supplies but not more (rather less) than 50 specimens/week.The owner of the second shop sold the species for USD 4.34 per individual. If large orders are placed he


could lower the price to USD 3.26/specimen. He further said that he could not promise getting 50 specimens/week because supplies were not that regular and animals were less common nowadays compared to some years ago.

In Pekanbaru (Sumatra), the local turtle market is supplied by at least two establishments (Table 5). AtPasar Bawa wet market one vendor sold the Southeast Asian Box Turtle and various other native turtle species to the ethnic Chinese community for local consumption. The vendor was not willing to give information on the prices. Some Chinese in Pekanbaru also buy juvenile Southeast Asian Box Turtles forrelease purposes (religious beliefs), while others believe in the medicinal values and buy the species in aprivate house whose ethnic Chinese owner is a well-known TCM practitioner. People in Pekanbaru repeatedly mentioned that members of the large ethnic Chinese community from adjacent Batam Island areregular consumers of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle.

In Palembang (South Sumatra), turtles were only encountered in four of the many pet and aquarium shops,but none of these stocked the Southeast Asian Box Turtle. However, a vendor at the town’s wet market had12 juvenile Southeast Asian Box Turtles and three Black Marsh Turtles Siebenrockiella crassicollis (Figure18). Both species were sold for USD 4.34/specimen. The vendor explained that they were collected fromnearby areas and that people usually bought them as pets.

Jalan Kapten P. Tendean in the heart of the city of Banjarmasin (Kalimantan) is famous for its shops thatsell live and dead reptiles and their products and derivatives as well as other wildlife. Signboards announcethe sale of hard-shelled (kura kura) and softshell (Bidawang) turtles (Figure 19). There were seven shops


City, Locality Price/individual (USD)

Purpose Life history stage

Quantity at day of survey

Jakarta, Barito 3.26-10.85 Local consumption all 52, 71

Jakarta, Fancy Pet’s Shop 5.43 Pet adult

Makassar, Hobbie Aquarium 13.57 Pet juvenile No stock

Medan, KH Aquarium 2.71 Pet/release adult 5

Medan, CV. Bonavide 5.43 Pet/release adult 2

Medan, JL. Bintang 5.43 TCM adult 9

Medan, near Jl. L. Haryono, 1 5.43 Local consumption adult ~10

Medan, near Jl. L. Haryono, 2 4.34 Local consumption adult ~10

Pekanbaru, Pasar Bawa ? Local consumption adult ?

Pekanbaru, Jl. Karet ? TCM adult ?

Palembang, Pasar 16, Ilir 4.34 Pet juvenile 12

Banjarmasin, Jl. Kapten P.

Tendean (6 shops)

Pontianak, Toko Ikan Hias 4.34-5.43 Pet all No stock

Pontianak, Toko Dwi Agung 5.43 Pet all 4

0.27, 0.33, 2.17, 2.71 Pet, consumption, TCM juvenile ~400

Table 5:Prices of locally used Southeast Asian Box Turtles

almost side by side, six of which were visited (Table 5). Among the hard-shelledturtles, the Southeast Asian Box Turtle wasthe most abundant. The first shop had onlyfew juvenile pet individuals, which theysold for USD 2.17/individual while the sizeof adult specimens was usually around 1 kg.Other shops also only had some juveniles,which were intended for the local pet market (USD 0.33-2.71/individual) (3rd

shop see Figure 20). Shop owners said thatjuveniles were intended for the local petmarket while adults were exported.Another shop had 350 juvenile SoutheastAsian Box Turtles, which were reportedlyto be sold for USD 0.27/individual to abuyer from Surabaya (Figure 21). Itremains unknown whether they are intended for local utilization at or nearSurabaya or whether they were supposed tobe exported from Surabaya. Plastrons andcarapaces of Southeast Asian Box Turtles


Figure 18: At Pasar 16, Ilir in Palembang Southeast Asian BoxTurtles and Black Marsh Turtles are regularly for sale(31.05.06)

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Figure 19: Signboard along Jalan Kapten P. Tendean in Banjarmasin announcing the sale of freshwater turtles(30.06.06)

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and other turtle species were stocked in another shop, and plastrons were viewed being sun-dried along theroad in front of the shop (Figure 22). These are exported to China. According to the owner, the sale ofplastron is more lucrative compared to live specimens; 1 kg plastron of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle sellsfor USD 7.60. Export of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle by these shops is illegal and details and extent oftrade are discussed in the illegal trade chapter.

In Pontianak (West Kalimantan) two pet shops (Toko Ikan Hias, Indah, Jl. A.R. Hakim No 40/41, and TokoDwi Agung) dealt with the Southeast Asian Box Turtle (Table 7). Toko Ikan can supply on order basiswithin three days. They sold one individual for USD 4.34-5.43/individual The second shop had one smalladult, one subadult, and two very small juveniles all sold for the same price of USD 5.43/individual Mixedwith other species (Black Marsh Turtle and Red-eared Slider) they usually sell about 50 individuals in fourmonths.

Although the Southeast Asian Box Turtle was offered for sale in all of the cities that were surveyed, thenumber of shops/places per city, the abundance at the shops and the relatively low prices indicate that localutilization is rather uncommon and local sale is not a major business. Generally, prices are similar for localconsumption and local pet trade. Jakarta, Medan and Banjarmasin can be classified as significant tradecentres for local use in Indonesia based on the numbers of shops offering the Southeast Asian Box Turtle.


Figure 20: Juvenile Southeast Asian Box Turtles andBlack Marsh Turtles that had been separated from theadults at a trader in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan(30.06.06)

Figure 21: This shop in Banjarmasin first accumulatesand then sells juvenile Southeast Asian Box Turtles to abuyer in Surabaya (30.06.06)

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This is related to the fact that these cities are major exit points for international trade (legal and illegal) inthe species. The few juveniles that are supplied by collectors are usually treated as by-catch since theyhave no or very low value for the consumer market in China, hence they are usually sold locally. Contraryto the low market value of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle and other native species at the local market, exotic turtle species command high prices. The Indian Star Tortoise Geochelone elegans for example sells for USD 25-55 depending on the size of the individual. These observations are in line with a statement ofthe IRATA Chairman saying that the local pet market for the Southeast Asian Box Turtle is very small in Indonesia (George Saputra, IRATA Chairman, pers. comm. to the researcher, 6 March 2006). A reason for


Figure 22: Plastrons of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle, the Black Marsh Turtle and the Malayan Giant Turtle (background), and two live Southeast Asian Box Turtle (foreground) at a trader in Jl. Kapten P. Tendean inBanjarmasin (30.06.06)

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this is probably that Indonesians, the majority8 of which are Muslim, are not permitted by their religion toconsume or even touch freshwater turtles. A more noteworthy reason is the high demand for the species inChina that makes export much more lucrative than local sale.

Considering that the Southeast Asian Box Turtle together with other CITES Appendix II-listed species andnationally protected species are regularly found in Indonesian wet/pet markets, pet shops and even road-side food stalls and medicine shops, implies that BKSDA offices do not regularly inspect those placesand licenses of the owners. Most shop owners frankly admitted that they do not possess permits for harvest or capture and trade. Permits for harvest or capture are usually only obtained by major suppliersand exporters but not by small-scale middlemen, collectors or local dealers. The latter collect without permits and without observing designated collection localities.

International pet trade

A total of 14 IRATA-membercompanies were registered forthe pet trade of the SoutheastAsian Box Turtle in 2006, supplying the species to theinternational pet market in theUS, Europe and Japan. Fiveclaimed not to be operational atthe time of the survey, theremaining nine were visited(Table 6). Only five of the nineactive companies had significant stock, samples ofwhich were measured (Figure23).

The specimens of all fivetraders were identified as theIndonesian Box Turtle, thesubspecies that naturallyoccurs in Java and Sumatra.Three exporters (No. 2, 4 & 5)had only juveniles with a maximum median carapacelength (MeCL) of <160 mm

(Table 6). Two traders, No. 1 & 3 also had adults. Among the total stock of those two traders, five individuals (17%) were adults at trader No. 1 and 24 (15.5%) were adults at trader No. 3. The absolutenumber of individuals present at the day of survey as well as the relative amount of individual with respect


Figure 23 a: Facilities for the Southeast Asian Box Turtle at three of the 14companies that are registered for the pet trade of the species (March 2006)

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8 Of 234 Million people only 15% are non-Muslim (Anon., 2002c).

to the quota of the trader was highestfor trader No. 3. The 155 individualsthat were encountered on the day ofthe survey constituted 64.6% of hisannual quota. While it might havebeen a coincidence that the day of thevisit to this trader was exactly the timehe held most of his annual quota, it ismore likely indicative that this traderwas at risk of exceeding his quotathroughout the year.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven of the 14 pettraders. Two traders said that theybought the Southeast Asian BoxTurtle for USD 1.74 and USD 2.17per individual, while they sold specimens for USD 8.00 and USD4.00, respectively. A third trader saidhe sold specimens for USD 3.50-4.00.In the pet trade, the Southeast AsianBox Turtle together with the AsianLeaf Turtle and the Black MarshTurtle are the three lowest-pricedspecies, as was indicated by four ofthe traders. Most of the respondents(60%) prefer smaller sizes of any gender. Individuals for the US market, however, should measure atleast four inch (“four inch rule”) or anequivalent of about 10 cm. All of theseven respondents get most of theirSoutheast Asian Box Turtles fromSumatra, which agrees with the identification of the samples as C. a.couro (Table 6). Noteworthy is thatsome get supplies from provinces thathave no quota (West Java, Bengkulu,Lampung, and Jambi). Two tradersfreely admitted that they neversourced individuals from Kalimantanor Sulawesi despite the geographicdivision of the quota that requires obtaining individuals from various

provinces. For a low-priced species like the Southeast Asian Box Turtle it is too cost intensive to source


Figure 23 b: Cuora amboinensis tank

Figure 23 c: Cuora enclosure

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specimens from far provinces if the same can be found in nearby places. Such practices may change the stated place of origin in the SATS-DN which could then easily lead to manipulation of the quota system.

Most (41.7%) of the pet tradersstated that nowadays it was moredifficult to get a certain number ofindividuals than 5-10 years ago.None of the traders was engagedor plans to be engaged in captivebreeding of the species due to itslow market value in the pet tradeand the high costs involved inbreeding a slow-reproducingspecies under captive conditions.All traders use air cargo fromJakarta, with China Airlines andJapan Airlines being the commonair carriers used in transportation.The main importing countries,according to interviewees, werethe US and Japan, followed byEurope and the Republic of Korea.Most of the traders stated that theyexport shipments of amphibiansand reptiles weekly but that the


Figure 24: Packing freshwater turtles following IATA standards(03.06.06)

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Table 6:Trader, date of survey, subspecies, stock relative to assigned quota, mean median carapace length ± SD and range,and mean body weight ± SD and range of the Indonesia Box Turtle encountered at storehouses of pet traders inJakarta and Bogor area

Trader Date of survey

Subspecies Stock (% quota)

No. measured

Mean ±SD (range) MeCL (mm)

Mean Wt ±SD (range) (g)

109.3±33.7 271.8±277.1(73.2-182.0) (78-920)117.1±20.5 292.9±157.1

(66.9-146.0) (45-570)126.3±34.1 429.1±341.6

(83.6-190.0) (100-1100)109.7±19.0 232.0±99.9

(55.6-139.0) (28-430)123.8±22.3 400.0±193.9

(77.9-156.0) (80-700)6 25.03.06 None 0 0 N/a N/a

7 29.03.06 C. a. couro 4 (1.7%) 0 N/a N/a

8 28.03.06 C. a. couro 4 (1.0%) 0 N/a N/a

9 29.03.06 None 0 0 N/a N/a

29

2 26.03.06 C. a. couro 53 (3.8%) 24

1 18.03.06 C. a. couro 29 (7.3%)

32

4 22.03.06 C. a. couro 32 (6.8%) 22

3 21.03.06 C. a. couro 155 (64.6%)

305 24.03.06 C. a. couro 52 (4.8%)

Southeast Asian Box Turtle is not frequently included in the cargo. Only one trader gave a more precisestatement and explained that due to its low price the species is usually just a ‘by-pack’, which is shippedwhenever additional space in a shipment is available. Mortality at the warehouses and during transportation was reported to range from 0-5%.

Indonesian pet exporters claim that the Southeast Asian Box Turtle is among the cheapest freshwater turtle species (sold for USD 3.50-8.00), and that trading the species for the pet trade is not commerciallyfeasible (various IRATA members, pers. comm. to the researcher, March-April 2006). The species is treated as a “by-pack” to other more valuable turtle species and they continue trading it. Most of theirSoutheast Asian Box Turtles are sold to the US, Europe and Japan. Comparison of the records of theCITES Trade Database from 2000-2006 for these three regions revealed that over the years the US hasalways imported the highest numbers of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle from Indonesia, followed by Japanand Europe with almost equal import (Table 7). In the European pet market, the Southeast Asian BoxTurtle plays a significant role (Bringsoe, 1991), and is a species of sustained popularity in the market sinceits entry in the 1970s from sources in Thailand and Borneo, and in the 1980s from Indonesia (Sulawesi,Moluccas) and the Philippines (Fritz and Obst, 1998). Following EU import restrictions on NorthAmerican Box Turtles Terrapene spp., European pet keepers turned their interest to Asian box turtles(Anon., 1999c). Tens of thousands of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle were imported to Europe during the1990s (Altherr and Freyer, 2000). Among the European countries, Germany, Spain and France are the mainimporters and end-users.


Box 6:Economics of Export: Southeast Asian Box Turtle for the Pet trade.

An exporter buys the Southeast Asian Box Turtle from his supplier for USD 1.73. He can sell it for USD 8.00 tohis buyer in Europe. This price should cover the following:

1. Maintenance (food, cleaning) while keeping the animal for the time when it was received fromsupplier until it is exported.

2. Packaging materials and labour.

3. Freight cost from Jakarta to Europe. Shipments are usually FOB (free on board) which means that the exporter pays until airport while the rest of the transportation costs are charged to the buyerby adding these costs to the price of the specimen. The freight for e.g. 37 kg (= 54 specimens) is USD 955.26.This translates to a cost of USD 25.81/kg or USD 17.69/individual.

Hence, if the animals are large like in the example (approx. 600-700 g/individual), the shipment is not economically feasible. Only if an animal weighs 300 g or less and hence a shipment of 37 kg can accommodate123 individuals freight becomes economically manageable. The cost for one animal would then be USD 7.76,which is basically the wholesale price that is paid for the animal in Europe. However, the exporter will still losemoney because he has not paid the supplier yet nor the maintenance and packaging costs.

Intensive market surveys by Auliya (2003) in Europe, showed that the price for the Southeast Asian BoxTurtle ranged from a yearly mean of USD 5.00 to USD 23.50 in the years from 1977 to 1999 when thespecies was not yet CITES-listed (Figure 25). The overall mean price for this period was USD 11.90. Suchcomprehensive data are not available for the years following the species listing in CITES Appendix II in2000. However, a web survey (www.southcosatexotics.com, www.steveno.nl/price_reptiles.html,www.reptilia.nl/, www.dhd24.com/, www.reptilica.de/) of retail prices in Europe, revealed that the value ofthe species had increased to a mean of USD 67.25 in 2006 (Figure 25).

According to web surveys by Salzberg (2000), the price for the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in the US wasUSD 20.00 in 2000. Current prices for the species in the US are much lower than in Europe and Japan.The present survey showed that the price in US ranged from about USD 20 to 79.99(www.alligatoralley.com; www.fredspets.com/; www.eastbayvivarium.com/pricelist/ turtleslist.html;www.abbottsturtlefarm.com; reptiledepot.com/turtles.html) in 2006. The mean for these values is USD42.50, which is about one third cheaper than in Europe. A retail seller in Japan offered the species for asimilar high price (USD 56.72) as in Europe (www.vampire-kashiwa.com).


Figure 25: Retail prices of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in Europe (Various sources, see text)

Table 7:Reported exports of Southeast Asian Box Turtles to pet importing countries (UNEP-WCMC CITES Trade Database,2007).

Country 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Annual average TotalUS 3956 10 167 8869 8825 10 791 8426 1798 7547.4 52 832

JP 592 2602 2449 1576 2133 1059 922 1619 11 333

Europe 969 2121 1438 2085 2731 1383 507 1604.9 11 234

International consumption and TCM trade

In Indonesia, four companies are registered for the consumption trade of the Southeast Asian Box Turtleand other freshwater turtles and tortoises (Table 8). They ship the animals live to East Asian consumercountries.

A fifth company whose export permit had expired in 2005 and which was undergoing licence renewal in2006 used to export dead Southeast Asian Box Turtles instead of live. The company used to dry large adultSoutheast Asian Box Turtle together with the Asian Softshell Turtle in ovens and grind them. The company owner said that they exclusively used large animals because small ones are more work-intensive.It is also possible that large adults are used because they are believed to have higher medicinal value. Theground animals were then packed in 10-kg-metal containers and exported about once a year to Malaysiaand Singapore, a BKSDA official informed (Anon. BKSDA, pers. comm. to the researcher, 25 May 2006).At the day of the researcher’s visit, the company still had about 1800 kg of “turtle flour” stocks waiting forthe renewal of the export licence.

Of the four registered companies, one (No. IV) was registered in two provinces (South Kalimantan andWest Kalimantan) but had only quota in one of these provinces in 2006. All companies were visited. Theyall had mainly or exclusively large (mean sizes ranging from 162-198 mm MeCL) and heavy (793-1156 gmean Wt) individuals (Table 8). It was noted that No. I had numerous individuals that – according to morphometrics – belonged to the Malayan subspecies. This subspecies, as mentioned earlier, occurs onKalimantan but not on Sumatra. The manager of the company confirmed that they obtain individuals fromSumatra and Kalimantan (Anon., Medan, pers. comm. to the researcher, 20 May 2006), involving theacquisition of individuals from a geographic area for which the company had no quota and therefore noharvest and capture permits. Company No. IV from South Kalimantan (Kalsel) seems to collect in areaswithout quota as well. They informed that most of the stock (410 specimens) that was present during thevisit was acquired from Bahaur in Central Kalimantan (Anon. Trader, Banjarmasin, pers. comm. to theresearcher, 30 June 2006).


Box 7:

Acquisition route.

The pet traders acquire Southeast Asian Box Turtles and other reptiles from regular suppliers. Such suppliers are generallylarge middlemen registered with BKSDA in a respective province of Indonesia. A pet trader usually has one significant supplier in each province. The exporter's choice in provinces will definitely not depend on the abundance or occurrence ofthis or any other single species but rather on: 1) the diversity of the site in terms of high valuable and tradable species; 2) theeconomic feasibility of getting supplies from the province; and 3) the occurrence of a (reliable) supplier. Jakarta's pet tradersusually have at least one supplier each in Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra, and Papua. Not all have a supplier in Kalimantan. For a specieslike the Southeast Asian Box Turtle that has a wide geographic distribution, the exporter will use the most economic source of supply. Logically this would be at the closest distance, Java, specifically West Java, but since Java is comparatively over-exploited most of the supply will come from Sumatra or provinces that are close to Jakarta such asLampung, South Sumatra, Bengkulu and Jambi. However, none of these provinces has an allocated quota for the species. Asa solution to this, the exporter registers its company in a certain province with quota, e.g. North Sumatra. Whether or notthe specimens are collected from there is not important (and usually not checked): the company is legally registered in theprovince with quota, and is therefore able to obtain CITES permits wherein the origin "North Sumatra" is indicated.

The manager further stated that Kuala Pembuang in Central Kalimantan is an important collection area forthe species. The researcher observed the transfer of hundreds of rattan turtle traps from the company toKuala Pembuang (Figure 26). Central Kalimantan has only a total quota of 1000 individuals but these areallocated to a supplier who is registered in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan. Therefore, the stock at thewarehouse of company IV-Kalsel was not regulated by the quota, and therefore outside the legal tradestructure.

It was further noted that about 27% of the total quota of company No. IV-Kalsel was delivered during thetime of the research visit (3 hours). The company had received about 380 kg of assorted Southeast Asian

Box, Asian Leaf and Black MarshTurtles, and the researcher wasinformed that this was just a smalldelivery and that occasionally 3000kg of turtles are obtained (mainlySoutheast Asian Box Turtles) in oneday. This gives a reasonableassumption that this companyexceeds its annual quota and mostlikely exports the surplus illegally. Another two companies (No. I andII) had a comparatively large stock ofthe species (Figure 27). CompanyNo. I had about 500 individuals or33% of its annual quota and company No. II had 600 individualsor 40% of its annual quota (Table 9).

Suppliers to these companies indicated that Medan’s exporters use


Figure 26: Rattan funnel traps ready to be transported from a traderin South Kalimantan to his collectors in Central Kalimantan(30.06.06)

No. Date of survey

Province Subspecies Stock (% quota)

No. measured

Mean ±SD (range) MeCL (mm)

Mean Wt ±SD (range) (g)

I 20.05.06 Sumut I C. a. couro, C. a. kamaroma

500 (33.3%) 20 198.3±9.8 (176.0-214.0)

1156.5±181.1 (820-1600)

II 25.05.06 Sumut I C. a. couro 600 (40.0%) 10 (177.1±20.3) 144.5-213.0

902.0±290.5 (490-1300)

III 20.06.06 Kaltim C. a. kamaroma 200 (3.6%) 15 168.6±45.2 (88.6-210.0)

868.0±494.4 (110-1350)

30.06.06 Kalsel C. a. kamaroma 410 (27.3%) 24 162.3±42.3 (66.3-193.0)

793.1±421.2 (35-1950)

06.07.06 Kalbar C. a. kamaroma 8 (no quota) 8 183.9±7.9 (169.0-196.0)

1078.8±128.3 (900-1180)

IV

Table 8:Trader, date of survey, province, subspecies, stock relative to assigned quota, mean median carapace length ± SDand range, and mean body weight ± SD and range of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle encountered at warehouseof consumption traders

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to pick up the animals every two tothree days (Anon. supplier pers.comm. to the researcher, 26 May2006). In such a trip, one exportercan easily get 300-500 kg of theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle, a supplier said. The supplier furtherexplained that the exporters do notopenly display all their stock andtherefore a stock estimate based onthe visible specimens usually underestimates the real situation.Medan’s exporters ship cargo once aweek (Anon. pers. comm. to theresearcher, 26 May 2006). Aconservative estimate based on theabove information (300-500 kg/ trip,and 2-3 trips/week) indicates that10009 kg or 750 Southeast AsianBox Turtles are exported by oneexporter in one week. Accordingly,the two Medan-registered exporters

are expected to export a total of 78 000 individuals in one year when the legal export quota is only 18 000individuals divided among 4 meat exporters and 14 pet exporters (Table 9).

In summary, a total of 18 Indonesian companies are authorized by the CITES MA to trade the SoutheastAsian Box Turtle internationally (Table 9). As of 19 June 2006, the pet traders had officially realized31.1% (1825 individuals) and the consumption traders 92% (9200 individuals) of their total export quota(PHKA-KKH, pers. comm. to the researcher, 19 June 2006). “Realisation” by working definition of the IDCITES MA means that they had applied and were granted SATS-LN permits. Realisation does not necessary mean that the animals had already been exported.


Figure 27: Storage tank of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle at one ofthe exporters in Sumatra Utara I (25.05.06)

9 Based on an average weight of 0.75 kg per individual C. amboinensis couro (please refer to Table 1).

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Suppliers

Most of the exporters depend on suppliers. Suppliers are defined as those companies that are registeredunder BKSDA at the provincial level. In this chapter, only suppliers who have a quota for the SoutheastAsian Box Turtle are discussed. Unlike an export company that gets its supplies directly from collectors,every province with quota requires a registered supplier who organizes the collection of specimens orderedby an exporter. If neither an exporter nor a supplier is registered in a certain province, the allocated quotaexpires. In Sulsel II for example neither an exporter nor a supplier was registered in 2006, hence the allocated quota of 500 individuals could not be realized.

In the various provinces that were surveyed (Sulsel I, Sumut I and II, Riau, Sumsel, Kaltim, Kalteng,Kalbar, Kalsel), all except one BKSDA-registered suppliers were visited (Table 10). Based on the information obtained from the companies and the respective BKSDA offices, only one of the suppliers (No.1) supplied pet exporters in Bogor/Jakarta. Two companies supplied other suppliers, while it appears all


Table 9:Indonesia’s Southeast Asian Box Turtle exporters and their 2006 quota and realisation as of 19 June 2006. (Source:PHKA-KKH)

Realisation 19-Jun-06

Pet 1 398 220 55.3

Pet 2 1382 850 61.5

Pet 3 240 160 66.7

Pet 4 468 190 40.6

Pet 5 1078 300 27.8

Pet 6 240 70 29.2

Pet 7 390 0 0

Pet 8 240 0 0

Pet 9 240 0 0

Pet 10 240 0 0

Pet 11 240 35 14.6

Pet 12 240 0 0

Pet 13 240 0 0

Pet 14 240 0 0

Subtotal Pet 5876 1825 31.1

Meat 1 1500 1500 100

Meat 2 1500 700 46.7

Meat 3 1500 1500 100

Meat 4 5500 5500 100

Subtotal Meat 10 000 9200 92

Remaining balance not allocated to any trader 2124

TOTAL 18 000 11 025 61.3

Exporter Quota 2006 % of quota

other companies were somehow involved in illegal transactions such as exporting without export license,trading without quota, dealing in plastron, running a government-owned company, or operating a fake company.

Of the eight registered Southeast Asian Box Turtle suppliers that were visited only five had stock. Of these,No. 2, 3, 4 and 7 had mainly large animals. No. 1 had mainly juveniles, and three companies had no stockat all at the day of visit (Table 10). All large individuals were intended for the meat trade. Generally, thecompanies had the locally available subspecies, only in the case of supplier No. 4 from Southern Sumatra,morphological data taken indicated that eventually the Bornean subspecies C.a. kamaroma was also present. This needs further confirmation.

The size-frequency histogram clearly illustrates the absence of small individuals (Figure 28). No juvenileswere traded and only a very small percentage of the traded animals were subadults (116 - 159 mm MeCL)while the rest were adults. A collector however usually collects all size classes. Since the supplier paysby kilogram, he would not bother to sort into size classes and reject the smaller ones but rather pay thewhole delivery by kilogram. It is therefore assumed that the ratio of juveniles to adults as present at thesuppliers represents the situation in the wild. Such over-representation of adults compared to juveniles canbe assumed to reflect an imbalanced population in which mature individuals have been over-harvested, thusthe remaining mature wild stock cannot reproduce fast enough to balance harvest, which is detrimental tothe population. Therefore, juveniles are hard to find or absent. It is expected that such local populationscould soon become extinct if exploitation continues at current levels. The survival of the population of theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle depends on large reproductive adults, particularly mature females.


Table 10:Supplier, date of survey, province, subspecies, stock relative to assigned quota, mean median carapace length ± SD and range, and mean body weight ± SD and range of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle encountered at warehouse of registered suppliers

Date of survey

Province Sub-species

Stock (% quota)

No. measured

Mean MeCL (mm)

Mean Wt (g)

Origin Remarks

1 11.05.06 Sulsel C.a.a. many but not shown

10 126.8±7.95 (121.5-149.0)

302±138.1 (200-680)

Sulsel Official pet supplier for Jakarta

2 23.05.06 Sumut I C.a.c. ~100 (~33.3%)

10 182.3±18.2 (155.0-214.0)

995.5±279.4 (580-1520)

Aceh, Sumsel, Sumut II

Exports himself

3 31.05.06 Sumsel Rather C.a.k than C.a.c.

~200 (~160%)

10 181.5±17.3 (158.0-214.0)

951±210.8 (600-1360)

Sumsel Supplies No. 6

4 01.06.06 Sumsel C.a.c. & C.a.k.?

~150 10 188.2±11.6 (167.0-204.0)

958±103.0 (740-1100)

Sumsel no quota??

5 Riau

6 Riau

7 04.07.06 Kalsel C.a.k. 3 (0.6%) 3 170.0±16.6 (151.0-177.0)

800.0±250.0 (550-1050)

Kalsel Illegal export of body parts

8 Kalteng

9 Kalbar

Not visited Supplies Medan

No stock Direct (illegal) export

No stock Illegal establishment

No stock Fake company

Fritz and Gaulke (1997) had assessed the size of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle present in warehouses oftraders in North Sumatra in 1997. Comparing the size frequency distribution of individuals measured byFritz and Gaulke in 1997 with those measured in this study in 2006 shows the absence of the juvenile lifehistory stage at trader warehouses in 2006 compared to nine years ago (Figure 28).

Hence not only are these suppliers responsible for the over-collection and soon local extinction of theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle in their respective areas but more than half of them trade the species (and probably others) illegally.


Figure 28:Size-frequency histogram for Southeast Asian Box Turtles encountered at warehouses of suppliers in NorthernSumatra in 1997 and in 2006

Illegal trade

In this section, only those companies/traders that were not registered for the trade of the Southeast AsianBox Turtle were examined. This was done to avoid repetition and double listing of companies that werealready examined in the previous three sections (pet exporter, exporters for food and TCM, and suppliers).The present research found evidence for a minimum of 18 companies participating in illegal trade of theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle (Table 11). At least one more company in North Sumatra also illegally tradesthe species but since this company was not visited it is not included in the analysis. Among the 18 companies, two each (11.1%) are in South Sulawesi and South Sumatra, four each (22.2%) are in NorthSumatra, Riau and South Kalimantan, and one each (5.5%) in Central and West Kalimantan (Table 11).Basically, in every province that was visited illegal trade activity was encountered. Only in EastKalimantan no evidence was found (likely due to the survey being hampered by collusion).

Thirteen of the 18 illegal Southeast Asian Box Turtle traders were registered with the BKSDA in theirrespective provinces either for the live trade of certain other species of reptiles or for the reptile skin trade.The remaining five traders were middlemen traders or shop owners without any licence for thereptile/wildlife trade. BKSDA offices are not known to have ever reported illegal activities from the 13registered companies despite BKSDA offices being required to regularly inspect the business of all registered traders.

Not all traders volunteered information regarding trade volumes and sales prices (Table 11). A minimumof 50 kg and a maximum of 18 000 kg or a mean of 1741.8 kg is a modest estimate for volumes of theSoutheast Asian Box Turtle handled by each trader in a single week, whereas six working days per weekwere assumed. The 18 traders could then trade collectively between 900 kg and 324 000 kg in one week


Box 8:Actors in trade.

Collector / Trapper

Middleman

Supplier

Exporter

or roughly 1 630 341 kg10 or 2 145 18611 individuals of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in one year. Thisconstitutes about 100 times the legal harvest quota for the Southeast Asian Box Turtle. This estimate doesnot yet include the 78 000 individuals that are expected to be exported annually by the two Medan-registered exporters (see above).

The extent of illegal trade suggests reason enough to stop the entire trade in this species immediately. It ishowever expected that a trade ban would not bring any positive change but rather increase the levels of illegal trade. The Malayan Giant Turtle Orlitia borneensis for example is a totally protected species inIndonesia and no harvest and export is allowed (zero quota). The species is nationally and internationallycategorised as Endangered (IUCN, 2007), and listed in Appendix II of CITES (CITES, 2005). Despite itslegal protection the species is heavily exploited and exported in large quantities (IUCN, 2007; Schoppe,unpubl. data). It was traded in East Asian food markets in huge numbers of animals of all sizes (IUCN,2007). Orlitia has however disappeared from visible trade in South China in recent years according toannual market visits; it may now be traded mainly in processed form or through channels that are difficultto survey (Peter Paul van Dijk, Conservation International, in litt. to the researcher, 12 September 2008).

Many traders deal solely with plastrons and carapaces of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle. Shell tradeimplies that exclusively adults are slaughtered to obtain their shells because the Chinese TCM practitioners believe that juveniles have not yet developed the healing power of older animals. The plastron is of especially high commercial value because it is an important ingredient in the preparation ofTCM. The carapace is treated as a by-product with a much lower value despite the evidence that there isno difference in the utility and efficacy between plastron and carapace (Asian Turtle Trade Working Group,2000). Plastron sale prices ranged from USD 4.34 to 7.60 per kilogram (mean USD 6.65/kg), followed bymixed shell with mean price of USD 3.06/kg, while carapace could be sold for only an average of USD1.09/kg in 2006 (Table 11). The trade of these body parts is much easier to conceal than cargoes that contain live animals, and they are even more lucrative than the trade of live animals that require higherfreight costs. Plastrons are often concealed under dry snakes, or other live species such as Red-earedSliders (Customs and Excise Department, 2006). Live turtles were sold for a mean of a mean of USD2.41/kg.

The import of plastron from non-CITES species to East Asia is completely legal and does not need to bedeclared. The product name is usually “Tortoise shell, Terrapin plastron (incl. for Chinese drugs)” and theimporters do not have to declare the species as long as the exporting country does not require it (Tien-HsiChen, Associate Researcher, National Museum of Marine Science and Technology, Keelung, Taiwan, inlitt. to the researcher, 8. April 2007). For the layman species identification based on the plastron is almostimpossible, hence exporters either mix plastron from CITES with plastron from non-CITES species or theysimply declare CITES species as being non-CITES species. Taiwan alone imported 403 583 kg of hard-shelled turtle shells between 1992 and 1998 from Indonesia (Chen et. al., 2000). This is equivalentto an annual mean of 57 655 kg of turtle shell. Among these the Southeast Asian Box Turtle is the mostcommon species and constitutes together with the Malayan Snail-eating Turtle Malayemys subtrijuga andthe Black Marsh Turtle more than 75% of the total amount (Chen et. al., 2000).


10 Based on the weekly mean of 1741 kg multiplied with 18 traders and the 52 weeks of one year.11 Based on an average weight of 0.76 kg per individual, whereas the average weight was computed for all three subspecies (referto Table 1)

Between 2002 and 2006 exports of shell from Indonesia to Taiwan increased to an annual mean of 86 625kg plastron or a total of 433 125 kg (Tien-Hsi Chen, Associate Researcher, National Museum of MarineScience and Technology, Keelung, Taiwan, in litt. to the researcher, 8. April 2007) 12. Indonesia is themain supplier of turtle to the TCM market in Taiwan, representing 42.1% and 35.7% of the shell importsto Taiwan in 1992-98 and 2002-06, respectively. Chen stated that the live turtle trade may have decreasedbut the volume of turtle shell trade increased (Tien-Hsi Chen, Associate Researcher, National Museum ofMarine Science and Technology, Keelung, Taiwan, in litt. to the researcher, 8 April 2007).


Table 11:Origin, approximate trade volume (live), sales price, commodity (live, plastron or carapace) and primary destination of illegally traded Southeast Asian Box Turtles based on 18 illegal traders

No. Province Trade volume (kg/week)

Price (USD/kg)

Commodity Primary destination

1 South Sulawesi 140 7.06 Plastron Pare Pare

1) 0.76-0.87 1) Live 1) Makassar

2) 5.43 2) Plastron 2) Makassar

3) 3) Carapace 3) Sengkang

3 South Sumatra ? 1.09 live Palembang

1) Live 1) Jakarta & Tembilahan

2) Singapore & China2) plastron/carapace

5 North Sumatra 3000-4000 3.80-4.34 Live Belawan

6 North Sumatra 50-100 1.52 Live Kisaran, Binjai Baru

7 North Sumatra 200-300 Live Medan, Jakarta

8 North Sumatra 50-200 1.63 Live Tanjug Morawa, Medan

9 Riau ? had 100 t k

0.65 Live Medan

10 Riau ? had 120 stock

Live Mouth of Siak River, east coast

11 Riau ? a lot Plastron/carapace Tembilahan

12 Riau 1000 2.86?? Tembilahan

13 South Kalimantan ? 3.26 Plastron/carapace

LivePlastron/carapace??

1) 7.60 1) Plastron Banjarmasin

2) 1.09 2) Carapace Banjarmasin

3) 0.27/ind 3) Juveniles Surabaya

1) 7.60 1) Plastron

2) 1.09 2) Carapace

1) 4.34 1) Plastron

2) 1.09 2) Carapace

3) ? 3) Live (rarely)

2 South Sulawesi

4 South Sumatra 200-500 1) 0.87

14 South Kalimantan Jakarta?

15 South Kalimantan 1800-6000

16 South Kalimantan Surabaya

17 Central Kalimantan 1200-18 000 Banjarmasin and/or Tembilahan

12 The average weight of a medium-sized turtle plastron is less than 100 g (Tien-Hsi Chen, Associate Researcher, NationalMuseum of Marine Science and Technology, Keelung,Taiwan, in litt. to the researcher, 8.April 2007).

Another way of trading the species wasobserved in Medan where one company hasspecialized in drying and grinding turtles.Live Southeast Asian Box Turtles and AsianSoftshell Turtles are dried in large ovens andthen mixed and ground beyond recognition.Only an experienced eye will be capable ofidentifying the “flour” as turtles and only anexpert or DNA analysis can tell the species, ifat all (Figure 36). This creates problems fortrade controls and enforcement and providesopportunities for mislabelling of the end product. This problem had earlier been recognized by van Dijk (2000). According tothe IRATA Chairman (George Saputra, IRATAChairman, pers. comm. to the researcher, 6March 2006) Southeast Asian Box and otherturtles are also often exported as frozen meatwhich is declared ‘fish’. Fish products arerarely inspected and often customs officers donot have the skill to differentiate between fishand reptile meat.


Figure 29: Illegal trade of the Giant Malayan Turtle Orlitiaborneensis is extensive in Kalimantan. Animals are kept aliveuntil certain numbers are reached and stocks are picked upby suppliers or exporters (22.06.06)

Figure 30: Evidence for plastron trade in South Sulawesi(15.05.06)

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Figure 31: Sacks of Southeast Asian Box Turtle carapace are stored before traded to Sengkang (15.05.06)

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Figure 32: The storage of turtles in sacks at this skin trader in South Sumatra speaks for a fast turnover(01.06.06)

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Figure 33: Warehouse of a trader in Riau. Crates in the back are part of an illegal Southeast Asian Box Turtleshipment waiting to be loaded for its trip to Singapore (10.06.06).

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Figure 34: Newly slaughtered and still alive: the Southeast Asian Box Turtle without its "box" at a trader in SouthKalimantan (04.07.06)

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Figure 36: Southeast Asian Box and Asian Softshell Turtles ground beyond recognition (25.05.06)

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Figure 35: Newly slaughtered Southeast Asian Box and Spiny Hill Turtles at a trader in Central Kalimantan(01.07.06)

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Trade routes

Information on trade routes was gathered through informal interviews with collectors, traders, exportersand labourers at reptile selling/keeping outlets in Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra and Kalimantan.

The trade centre in South Sulawesi is the provincial capital Makassar, which receives plastron and carapaces from the southern part of the province, and also live individuals, many of which are collected inareas without quota such as Kolaha and Kendari. From Makassar most of the illegal trade goes via Jakartaand Surabaya to Hong Kong SAR and mainland China.

In North Sumatra, live Southeast Asian Box Turtles are shipped from Medan via Belawan to Hong Kongand Penang. Illegal shipments are also regularly sent from Tanjung Balai to Hong Kong and to Malaysia.

In Riau, illegal plastron trade is encountered in Pekanbaru. Live turtles are illegally shipped fromPekanbaru via Siak River to Malaysia and Singapore. They are also illegally shipped from Pekanbaru viaTembilahan to Singapore. Other illegal shipments also originate in Tembilahan and are sent by boat eitherdirectly or via Batam to Singapore.

Jambi has no quota but illegally collected individuals are transported to Pekanbaru (Mumpuni, CITES SA,LIPI, pers. comm. to the researcher, 2006) and exported to Singapore. Live individuals are also illegallyacquired from Kalimantan.

In South Sumatra, plastron/carapace trade was encountered in Palembang from where the shells are sent toChina. Live individuals are illegally traded from Palembang via Pekanbaru and Tembilahan to Singapore.Another trade route connects Palembang with Medan.

Illegal plastron and carapace trade is rampant in Kalimantan, especially in Central and South but some collectors in East Kalimantan are also engaged in this illegal business. All plastron/carapaces usually endup in Banjarmasin from where they are forwarded – among other destinations – to Surabaya. Illegal tradeof live turtles occurs in Palangkaraya (Central Kalimantan) and Banjarmasin. Banjarmasin is a centre ofthe illegal reptile trade with protected and quota-regulated species (also turtles) sold along the road.

In summary, the following main ports of export in Indonesia and destinations abroad were identified(Figure 37):

1. Makassar via Jakarta and/or Surabaya (plane) to Hong Kong and China (consumption and plastron trade)2. Medan via Belawan (boat) to Hong Kong and Penang (consumption trade)3. Tanjung Balai (boat) to Hong Kong, China, and Malaysia (consumption trade)4. Pekanbaru (boat) to Malaysia and Singapore (consumption trade)5. Tembilahan (boat) via Batam to Singapore (consumption trade)6. Banjarmasin via Surabaya and/or Jakarta (plane) to Hong Kong and China (consumption and plastron trade)

Among these, only Makassar (Ujung Padang), Medan, Jakarta and Surabaya have designated ports of entryand exit for CITES Appendix II-listed species (Annex 3).


Alternative production systems

In general, Indonesia currently allows for the export of first generation (F1) individuals for CITESAppendix II-listed species as captive bred and therefore outside the quota that only applies to wild-caughtindividuals (Anon., 2005a). Before 2005, only animals of the second generation (F2) were allowed to beexported (Anon., 1999b). Following the ongoing demand for the Southeast Asian Box Turtle from HongKong SAR and mainland China while at the same time – in line with the requirements as a CITES Party –being responsible for the sustainable management of wild populations, the CITES MA in Indonesia asserted pressure on several traders to breed the species. Some companies that previously had permits for harvest or capture from the wild are now only permitted to trade “captive-bred” individuals. In accordancewith the Ministry Decree 447, companies that want to engage in captive breeding of the Southeast AsianBox Turtle need to apply for a Permit for Captive Management from the Head of BKSDA (Anon., 2003b). BKSDA decides within 14 days on whether a permit will be granted or not. A captive management permitis valid for five years after which it can be renewed. So far, there is no company in Indonesia or elsewherein the range countries of the species, that breeds the species on a commercial scale. The species is bred in small numbers by private breeders outside countries of its origin (Kerlen, 2002, 2004, 2005; Struijk and


Figure 37:

Map showing main trade routes within and out of Indonesia

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Woldring, 2005), and there are some indications that successful breeding at small but commercial scale istaking place in greenhouses in southern China (Peter-Paul van Dijk, Conservation International, in litt. tothe researcher, 12 September 2008).

The UNEP-WCMC CITES trade database, however, indicates that the US imported 76 captive-bred specimens from Indonesia in 2003 (Table 12). Since the US only imports the species for the pet trade, thesespecimens might have originated from one or more of the IRATA members who export the species for theinternational pet trade. However, no IRATA member currently breeds, has ever bred, nor intends to breedthe Southeast Asian Box Turtle. It is assumed that these 76 specimens imported by the US were falselydeclared as captive bred following the increasing pressure from the CITES MA in Indonesia urgingexporters to engage in captive breeding to limit the extraction from the wild. Samedi and Iskandar (2000)noted that among 40 exporters surveyed, five stated that they had initiated captive ranching or rearing offreshwater turtles in 1997/98; however there was are no confirmed official records of such operations inIndonesia (Auliya, in prep.).

Captive breeding of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle for commercial profit is at present not economicallyfeasible in a country of export, where captive bred animals incur high air freight rates. The species reaches maturity in captivity at about 4-5 years, and females lay 2-4 (mean 3) clutches of 1-5 (mean 2) eggsper clutch per year. These results – provided that legally obtained sexually mature specimens are at hand– imply an average of 3x2=6 eggs per mature female per year. Assuming a rather high survival of 50%from egg to juvenile, a mature female could produce three juveniles in one year. In the most favourable conditions, these could grow to 100 mm MeCL in one year (Schoppe and Dolorosa, in prep.), which is theminimum size for pet turtles traded to the US. To obtain such fast growing hatchlings the turtles have tobe kept in enclosures that grant regular uptake of calcium and vitamin enriched food, clean water, shelter,exposure to sun, among other needs. Hatchlings and small juveniles are predominantly carnivorous, whichdoes not only mean that feeding is more expensive than for herbivorous ones, but it also involves moremaintenance of the tanks since rotten food items will easily deteriorate the water quality of the tank.

If conditions are less favourable, and feeding not appropriate or irregular a hatchling might take up to twoyears to reach a size that is marketable for the pet trade (Schoppe and Dolorosa, in prep.). Subadult hood(?116 mm MeCL) and therefore a marketable size for the consumption trade is reached at about 13-15months depending on captive management conditions. Once the juveniles are aged about one year, theyeat more vegetables and fruits, which lowers the maintenance costs. Nevertheless, keeping an animal formore than a year before it can be traded for consumption (which is the trade with the highest demand andthe highest price) or for 4-5 years before it will breed is definitely commercially unfeasible, and nobodywho depends on trading turtles for livelihood would engage in this practice.


Table 12:UNEP-WCMC CITES trade data on ex- and imported Southeast Asian Box Turtles declared as captive bred

Year Importer Exporter Import Quantity Import Purpose Export Quantity

2000 CN MY Not indicated 4500

2000 HK MY Not indicated 3800

2003 US ID 76 Trade

2004 AE CH 6 Zoos

The fact that companies that are pressurized by regulations to breed the Southeast Asian Box Turtle comeup with breeding reports that are far from being realistic is therefore not surprising (Table 13). Acompany might continue getting stocks from the wild and report – as requested – the “breeding efforts” tothe MA. It is not clear whether these breeding operations are regularly monitored by the authorities. Thiswill give the company the legality to continue trading the species, and the necessary documentation thatthe animals are captive bred.

The situation is exemplified by a 2006 report for the period January to May of two companies in CentralKalimantan. One company (A) with a parent stock of 98 individuals bred 950 individuals in 2006 of which900 were traded in the same year (Table 13). This implies – assuming that the female : male ratio of theirparent stock was 3:1 – that each of the 73.5 females had produced 12.9 offspring in only five months.However, assuming best conditions, each of the 73.5 females could only have produced an average of 1.5eggs x 2 clutches = 3 eggs in half a year or a total of 220.5 eggs during the months that are covered by thereport.

The egg and early juvenile mortality is assumed to be about 50% similar to what is known for Americanfreshwater turtles (see above), in absence of related references from Southeast Asian species. However,the company stated that 900 of the 950 offspring were traded – in other words – exported for the consumption trade. This would require a never-before recorded survival rate of the individuals. Anothercompany (B) reported to breed 756 offspring from a parent stock of 40 individuals (Table 13). Again, thebest scenario (3:1 female male ratio, 3 eggs per female, 100% egg survival) could only have provided 90eggs.

Breeding the Southeast Asian Box Turtle for the consumption trade (i.e. rearing individuals to adult size)is not economically feasible and should not be encouraged by the CITES MA because it leads to misreporting and likely illegal activities. An economic analysis could be conducted to determine the feasibility of breeding the species for the pet trade i.e. juveniles. Lee et al. (2004) stated that breeding ofendangered species for commercial use, other than the ones that are self-sustained now, should not beattempted as survival in the wild would be further threatened by the need for founding and supplementarystock. This current research concurs with Jenkins (1995) who stated that for Southeast Asian freshwaterturtles, captive breeding operations may help to meet the demand for pets and for release animals.However, it is likely that in the majority of cases growth rates will be too slow to provide animals for thefood and medicinal trader at an economic profit, at least while wild collected animals are still traded.

The only species of Asian Box Turtle that have recently been bred in considerable large numbers are theChinese Three-striped Box Turtle C. trifasciata and the Vietnamese Three-striped Box Turtle C. cyclornata (Zhou et al., 2007). The adult to offspring ratio which is 1:1 is only economically acceptablebecause the two species have high market prices of USD 1,500.00-1,625.00/individual.


Table 13:Reported parent stock and captive bred Southeast Asian Box Turtles in Central Kalimantan as of early 2006

(Source: BKSDA Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, as of May 2006.)

Company Parent stock Offspring stock Total stock Realisation Remaining stock

A 98 950 1048 900 148

B 40 756 796 - 796

The researcher observed that Indonesia’s accredited rescue centres such as the one in Cikananga in WestJava have numerous Southeast Asian Box Turtles. However, maintenance of the populations constitutes aproblem, as financial and logistical limitations restrict breeding the species. Financial and technical assistance should be extended to those centres. If financially supported, breeding facilities could be provided, studies be conducted on reproduction and growth and as a result some assurance populations becreated. In the long run, offspring could eventually supply the pet market, if ecologically and economically feasible, or be reintroduced to areas in the wild where harvest is banned or successfully regulated with the guidance of experts.

Abundance of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in the wild

Population survey

During the course of the six-week population survey in a peat swamp forest area of the National Park RawaAopa, a total of 71 Wallacean Box Turtles were caught. The funnel traps set in water proved to be the mostsuccessful collection method under the environmental conditions at the time of the survey. Frequent rainresulted in flooding of the pitfall traps and visual encounter surveys were difficult due to dense vegetation.The Schumacher and Eschmeyer population size estimate resulted in a population size of 120 individualsin the study area. The area measured approximately 2 ha, hence, the population density estimate wasapproximately 60 individuals/ha (Table 14).

To the knowledge of the researcher, this is likely to be the first time the population size of the SoutheastAsian Box Turtle has been systematically assessed: no published data by other than the researcher are available to compare with this study’s results. The only other available and readily comparable data for thesame species are from Malaysia where the researcher conducted a similar survey but in an open-accessible and exploited area (Schoppe, 2008b). In Peninsular Malaysia, the population size of theMalayan Box Turtle was assessed in an oil palm plantation, which used to be a collection area for thespecies until recently. Although the study area in Malaysia was about 15 times larger than the one inIndonesia, only 24 individuals of the Malayan Box Turtle were collected in more than five weeks (Table14). Also the Schumacher-Eschmeyer estimate resulted in 24 individuals, hence the density was calculated as 0.82 individual/ha as compared to 60 individual/ha in the protected area in Indonesia.


Table 14:Comparison of two population surveys conducted on the Southeast Asian Box Turtle

Protected area Exploited area

Subspecies Wallacean Box Turtle Malayan Box Turtle

Habitat Peat swamp forest Oil palm plantation

Conservation status of habitat Nationally protected park Open accessible plantation

Size of study area (ha) 2 29.25

No of animals caught 71 24

Estimated population size 120 24

Population density (individual / ha) 60 0.82

Source This study Schoppe, 2008

Density data of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle that were obtained from Palawan, Philippines during astudy that targeted the Philippine Forest Turtle Siebenrockiella leytensis and hence assessed forest streamsand adjacent areas are lower than those in the protected area in Indonesia but much higher than in theexploited area in Malaysia. In Palawan densities of 7.2, 8.4, 11.6 and 21.9 individuals/ha were encountered in four different sites that were surveyed (Schoppe, unpubl. data). It is expected that densityis much higher in habitats that perfectly suit the preferences of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle such as ricefields, marshes, and peat swamp forests.

This striking difference suggests that the population in the Malaysian plantation is either heavily over-exploited, or that natural habitats can support higher population densities. Furthermore, data indicate thatone hectare of natural habitat can meet the biological requirements of at least 60 individuals. It remainsunknown whether a density of 0.82 individual/ha is enough to sustain a population. Further studies areneeded to compare population sizes and densities among sites and over time.

The morphological data that were taken for the specimens that were collected during the current population survey revealed that both sexes were similar in mean median carapace length, width and weightbut differed significantly in mean median plastron length and width as well as in body height (Table 15).

Based on the median carapace length individuals were assigned to life-history stages. Results show thatthe population was composed of 0 hatchlings, 19 juveniles, 20 subadults and 32 adults (Table 16). Fordirect comparison with data that only distinguish between two general life history stages (immature andmature), these more general stages were also applied here. Accordingly, the population under study wascomposed of 54.9% immature and 45.1% mature individuals (Table 16). It is believed this compositionreflects a healthy population with enough adults for continuous reproductions as well as immature individuals in various size classes. Again, only few comparative data are available. Alviola et al. (2003)examined a population of the Wallacean Box Turtle in the Philippines. They found eight juveniles (14.8%),16 (29.6%) subadults and 30 (55.5%) adults, the relative composition of which is similar to the findings ofthe present study. The relative composition of the exploited population in the survey site in Malaysia was20.8% mature versus 79.2% immature individuals, which indicates over-exploitation of the larger life history stages leading to an imbalanced population composition (Schoppe, 2008b), and suggests that over-exploitation at least partly explains the much lower densities estimated for this site.


Table 15:Mean ± SD and range sizes and body weight of specimens caught during the population survey in TNRAW.(Sizes are in mm, weight is in grams)

Sex MeCL MaCW MePL PW1 PW2 BH Wt

Female 159.6±23.0 121.8±10.2 148.7±22.7 75.3±9.2 82.3±10.2 64.1±10.0 630.8±238.9

(n=28) (118.0-200.0) (103.0-140.0) (106.0-182.8) (60.0-92.6) (61.3-103.0) (42.0-79.0) (240-1080)

Male 159.9±20.1 118.0±13.5 136.9±11.4 69.7±4.7 77.6±6.0 62.4±24.9 544.8±134.3

(n=24) (110.5-177.0) (97.0-158.5) (103.5-12.5) (58.0-79.5) (60.5-85.5) (46.0-70.0) (220-840)

Juvenile 67.6±16.9 62.6±15.8 59.6±16.2 34.4±9.8 35.3±10.4 27.2±7.0 57.5±57.3

(n=19) (51.5-110.0) (48.6-100.9) (47.4-102.0) (27.0-62.0) (26.0-62.0) (22.0-24.0) (20-220)

However, not only the number of adults is significant, but also the male : female ratio. The sex ratio inAviola et al. (2003) was 1:0.875 in favour of males. In the present study, females slightly dominated resulting in a male to female ratio of 1:1.2. Data from the study in Malaysia by Schoppe (2008b) indicatea ratio of male : female of 1:3. The harvest survey in Kota Bangun, West Kalimantan derived at a sex ratioof 1M:1.03F. Sex ratio varies among species and age groups. Ernst et al. (1994) noted based on Americanfreshwater turtles that sex ratio should be 1:1 or slightly in favour of females to grant reproduction in thewild. This seems also to be true for marine turtles. For the Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Lepidochelys kempiit was found out that the greatest rate of reproductive return was achieved with a sex ratio of 1.28F:1.0M(56.2% female) (Coyne, 2000). According to Bury (1979) most freshwater turtles in fact have a 1:1 adultsex ratio. Ewert and Nelson (1991) however showed that sex bias was in favour of male in 31 cases andin favour of females in 15 cases. To determine whether harvest is exceeding sustainable limits the mostimportant aspect is whether the sex ratio changes over time because of over-exploitation.

The size-frequency histogram shows a conspicuous separation into the two general life history stages(Figure 38, left). In the TNRAW population, the shape of the curve is bell-shaped and therefore reflects anormal distribution. Comparison to an over-exploited population in Malaysia shows clearly that theexploited population is under-represented by adults, frequency distribution is not bell-shaped and distribution therefore not normal representing an altered population structure (Figure 38, right).


Figure 38:Size-frequency distribution of a population of the Wallacean Box Turtle in the TNRAW (left) and of the MalayanBox Turtle in an oil palm plantation in Peninsular Malaysia (right)

TNRAW 10mm intervals, n=71

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Table 16:Absolute and relative abundance per life history stage of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle collected in TNRAW

Size class MeCL (mm) Specific life history stage n % General life history stage n %

I <50 Hatchling 0 0

II 51-115 Juvenile 19 26.8 Immature 39 54.9

III 116-159 Subadult 20 28.2

IV >160 Adult 32 45.1 Mature 32 45.1

Harvest survey

During the 43 days of harvest survey in Kota Bangun, West Kalimantan a total of 1547 Malayan BoxTurtles were collected by the four middlemen (A-D) who agreed to join the survey (Table 17). It isassumed that these constitute 100% of the stock that was traded by these middlemen. Most of these turtles were collected with funnel traps and only few were harvested by hand. To better understand theextent of exploitation, daily, monthly and yearly mean catches were extrapolated for the total of all four middlemen and as a mean for one middleman (Table 17). This resulted in a total mean catch of 37.2 individual/day, or 1117 individual/months or 13 403.5 individual/year for all four middlemen combined.Accordingly, one middleman would then trade a conservative mean of 3350.9 individual/year (Table 17).It was not possible to calculate catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) since the number of collectors supplying eachmiddleman was not constant. Sometimes three, four or “several” delivered their catch to the middleman.The total mean catch of these four middlemen per year, as extrapolated, constitutes more than half of theannual national quota for the species. Collectors and middlemen interviewed insisted that the time of survey fell into a lean collection time and that normally more individuals per unit time can be collected.This gives reason to believe that East Kalimantan exceeds the allocated provincial harvest quota.

The site should be monitored to determine whether this rate of exploitation is sustainable. No similar studyhas ever been conducted or made public for any Southeast Asian freshwater turtle. A similar harvest studywas conducted in Selangor, Malaysia where the catch of two middlemen was assessed (Schoppe, 2008b).Unlike in Kota Bangun, in Malaysia animals were collected mainly from oil palm plantations and the surrounding river and drainage systems. In 38 days, two Malaysian middlemen collected a total of 385individuals (Table 18). Accordingly, total means per year for both middlemen and mean annual catch forone middleman were 3647.4 and 1823.7 individuals, respectively. This is only about half what is collected by one middleman in Kota Bangun.


Table 17:Catch of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle traded by four middlemen in Kota Bangun,West Kalimantan

Middleman Total Mean number /day Mean number /month Mean number /year

A 546 12.7 380.9 4571.2

B 844 19.6 588.8 7066

C 85 2.7 79.7 956.3

D 72 2.3 67.5 810

Total A-D 1547 37.2 1117 13 403.5

Mean A-D 386.8 9.3 279.2 3350.9

Table 18:Catch of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle traded by two middlemen in Sabak Bernam, Peninsular Malaysia

Middleman Total Mean number /day Mean number /month Mean number /year

I 208 5.5 164.2 1970.5

II 177 4.7 139.7 1676.8

Total I & II 385 10.1 303.9 3647.4

Mean I & II 192.5 5.1 152 1823.7

Generally, data are believed to be comparable in as much as the middlemen in both areas stated that thesurvey period fell into a lean collection time, either due to seasonality as in Kota Bangun or due to lowprices as in Malaysia. Hence, catch and therewith abundance is higher in the Kota Bangun site than in theMalaysian site. This might be related to differences in habitat (man-made oil palm plantation versusnatural wetland) or because turtles in the Malaysia site are more heavily exploited than those in theIndonesian site. As long as other comparative data are not available, the precautionary principle shouldapply, and catch and exploitation rate should be monitored on a regular basis.

Morphological data that were collected for 655 of the 1547 harvested individuals showed that data obtainedfor male and female differed significantly in all traits except PW2 from each other (Table 19). Femaleswere relatively heavier, higher, wider at the hinge area (PW1), had larger plastrons and wider carapaces butwere slightly shorter in median carapace length than males. Sex ratio was 1:1.03.

The assignment of general life history stages to all of the 1547 harvested individuals revealed a composition of 4.2% immature and 95.8% mature individuals (Table 20). Looking back into the morphological data (Table 20) will show that mean size of both male and females is rather large. Thisshows a clear preference of collectors and traders for large adults.

The high percentage of harvested adults is illustrated in the size-frequency histogram (Figure 39, left).Comparative data from Malaysian traders (Schoppe, 2008b) show the same pattern (Figure 39, right).


Table 19:Mean ± SD and range sizes and body weight of specimens caught during the harvest survey in Kota Bangun.(Sizes are in millimetres, weight is in grams)

Sex MeCL MaCW MePL PW1 PW2 BH Wt

Female 173.2±18.3 131.4±11.8 170.7±18.7 78.1±7.6 93.6±10.5 85.4±9.8 1008.7±283.7

(n=282) (112.0-215.0) (91.0-155.0) (104.0-206.0) (54.0-111.0) (54.0-114.0) (54.0-112.0 (250-1650)

Male 176.9±20.8 128.4±11.7 163.1±18.3 74.8±9.5 93.6±10.9 77.4±7.4 928.5±255.2

(n=308) (107.0-208.0) (77.0-168.0) (71.5-200.0) (48.0-112.0) (50.0-114.0) (49.0-98.0) (150-1470)

Juvenile 104.2±10.1 85.9±7.9 98.7±11.7 51.4±5.2 54.3±5.8 49.8±5.9 198.5±59.1

(n=65) (70.0-119.0) (60.0-96.0) (64.5-124.0) (36.0-61.0) (36.0-64.0) (31.5-60.0) (60-310)

Table 20:Absolute and relative abundance per life history stage of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle collected in Kota Bangun

Size class MeCL (mm) General life history stage n %

I <50

II 51-115 Immature 65 4.2

III 116-159

IV >160 Mature 1482 95.8

For the Southeast Asian Box Turtle, as for most of the freshwater turtles, any removal of reproductiveadults, and to a lesser extent of juveniles, from one or a few small populations of animals with a limitedannual reproductive potential and late maturity, would have significant effects on the population structure,recruitment and population genetics. Wild populations of tortoises and freshwater turtles are generally vulnerable to over-exploitation, because of biological characteristics such as late maturity, limited annualreproductive output, and high juvenile mortality, as well as habitat degradation and loss. McCord andPhilippen (1998) suggest that although the Burmese Box Turtle (Cuora amboinensis lineata) might havebeen and still is locally numerous, the population dynamics of the species, and especially the very lowclutch size of only 1 or 2 eggs, suggests that continuous exploitation will lead to a collapse of a population.

Life history traits such as prolonged reproduction and increased longevity make turtles sensitive to relatively small decreases in adult survivorship (Congdon et al., 1993), so that a small decrease in annualsubadult or adult survival can negatively impact long-term population viability (Gamble and Simon, 2003).Reed et al. (2002) showed that an annual increase in adult mortality in female Alligator Snapping TurtlesMacrochelys temminckii by less than 1% would result in population declines. Similarly, Congdon et al.(1994) found that Common Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina populations would be negatively affected by an annual harvest of 10% of the adult females. Results of Gamble and Simon (2003) indicatethat Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta are susceptible to over-harvest with an annual removal of only 4-5%of the female population. This sensitivity to harvest is in line with the previously mentioned turtle species.

Harvest impact

For the provinces visited, it seems to be generally true – based on results from surveys and interviews –that populations of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle near centres of trade (cities with turtle traders) are over-exploited or even locally extinct. In Maros-Pangkajene at the west coast of South Sulawesi and north ofMakassar rice farmers said that the species was formerly (‘many years ago’) common, but they are extinctthere now. Further north in Barru, PJ Butung – an area famous for the collection of the Reticulated Python– one respondent said that the Southeast Asian Box Turtle can still be encountered in the area. Anotherrespondent (rice farmer) stated that the species can sometimes be found during the rainy season and thatfive months ago he had seen one individual. In Desa Sagulemo, Masamba (Sulawesi) many people had


Figure 39:Size frequency distribution of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle harvested in Kota Bangun (left) and in SabakBernam, Peninsular Malaysia (right)

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engaged in full-time turtle collection in the past. In 2000-2001, a middleman in the area could easily accumulate 500 kg of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in one day. Some people still collect the species butrather on a sideline basis. On 15 May 2006, the researchers and three collectors surveyed some typicalhabitats / collection areas (marsh/swamp, rice field, stream, cacao plantation; water depth between 10-60cm) from 1830-2000hrs. The collectors found one juvenile and one adult male during the 1.5 hours.According to the collectors, they can eventually collect 10-20 individuals in about four hours if they go outearlier in the afternoon, e.g. at 1600hrs. Low catch on that particular day was blamed on a late startingtime. However, based on experience from Rawa Aopa (Sulawesi) and the Philippines, the Southeast AsianBox Turtle becomes active at sunset at about 1800hrs, and only during rainy or cloudy days the animalsmight emerge earlier from refuge sites (Schoppe, unpubl. data). Other collectors who were interviewedstated they could collect 1-10 individuals in one night. A middleman in Sengkang (Sulawesi) stated thatthere is a drastic population reduction of the species in the area, which was formerly famous among collectors for high abundances of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle. In ~2001/02 he could still get about 700kg of live Southeast Asian Box Turtles in one day or 21 000 kg or about 36 778 individuals per month(assuming that the average weight is about 0.57 kg per individual C. a. amboinensis13). Nowadays, hedoes not deal with live individuals since he is not a registered supplier/exporter but he remains involved intrade of plastron. In 2006, he could get about 100 kg plastron per month, which – considering an averageweight of 100 g for a medium-sized plastron – is equivalent to about 1000 live individuals per month.

Interviews with 20 residents from locations near the population size study in TNRAW indicated that theystill consider the species common in the area (95% of all respondents). However, 70% of the respondentshad noticed a population decrease. Five per cent stated that such decrease became noticeable 5-10 yearsago; 30% noticed it 3-4 years ago and 40% just noticed a recent (2-3 years ago) decrease.

In Tembilahan, Riau (Sumatra), the Southeast Asian Box Turtle is no longer common. Collectors as wellas members of the general public stated that some six years ago it could still be found in and near the city,but nowadays the species is not seen in the wild anymore. In Belanta Raya, about three hours by boat fromTembilahan, which is one of the major wildlife transit areas on the way to Tembilahan, the abundance ofthe species is said to have drastically decreased over the past few years. Nowadays, collectors can only getabout three individuals of mixed Southeast Asian Box Turtle and Asian Leaf Turtle in one day. The authorsearched for the species at about one hour walking upstream of Belanta Raya and did not find any turtlespecies. Informants stated that further upstream (another three hours) turtles can still be found but eventhere a population decrease is noticeable. Other collection areas in Riau are in Kerinci, Sorek and Ukui.It was difficult to get clear statements on the abundance of the species from collectors in those areas. Theyusually stated that catch-per-unit-effort depends on the price. If they can get a high price, they can get upto 100 kg in one week. If the price is low, they collect less.

In East Kalimantan, a population decrease of the Malayan Box Turtle and other turtle species was observedby residents of Kota Bangun and the surrounding lakes. Ten years ago, turtles, especially the Malayan BoxTurtle and the Malayan Giant Turtle were still so common that they entered the houses during floods (PakAmir, boatman, pers. comm. to the researcher, 23 June 2006). Nowadays this does not happen anymorebecause both species have decreased in numbers over the past 10 years, he said. Some 10 years ago, people engaged in turtle collection could easily collect 10 tons per week (mixed Malayan Box Turtle,Malayan


13 Based on average weight of male and females, please refer to Table 1.

Giant Turtle, and Asian Softshell Turtle). In those days an exporter from Banjarmasin had “taken office”in Rimba Ayu. According to the informant, nowadays all turtles are sold to the only dealer in Balikpapan. Despite the noticeable decrease in the abundance of turtles in the area, many collectors and middlemen continue dealing with the Malayan Box Turtle and other turtle species, indicating the undiminished demandfor the species. This could easily lead to severe over-exploitation. Collectors and middlemen inBanjarmasin in South Kalimantan stated that the Malayan Box Turtle is not as easy to obtain compared tosome years ago. Therefore, they extend their collection activity to Central Kalimantan. The same is truein West Kalimantan. The Malayan Box Turtle is nowadays collected from sites further and further awayfrom the trade centre in Pontianak. According to turtle traders, market and aquarium shop vendors, andlocal residents, the main collection area of the species is now Ketapang, seven hours north-west fromPontianak.

According to the Asian Turtle Trade Group (2000), the Southeast Asian Box Turtle has experienced inIndonesia what is known as a “boom-and-bust” cycle: collection and export operations become established in a certain location, collection efforts and capture and export volumes increase rapidly, reach a peak, and then decline as accessible populations become depleted and collectors need to venture into new, more distant areas.


Figure 40:Map of Indonesia showing the abundance and exploitation of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle based on interviewsand surveys conducted in Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra, and Kalimantan in 2006

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Although the Southeast Asian Box Turtle has been listed in Appendix II since 2000, it would appear thatexploitation levels of Indonesia’s populations have not changed much over the past six years. It was themost abundant freshwater turtle in trade before its listing, and 1350 individuals could easily be counted inone warehouse in North Sumatra in one day (Shepherd, 2000). In 2006, it remained the most abundantspecies observed in trade; warehouse counts revealed similar high numbers to seven years ago. Prices havealso not changed considerably. Sumatra’s exporters purchased one kilogram for USD 1.12-1.91 (meanUSD 1.31) in 1999 (Shepherd, 2000) and in 2006 they paid USD 1.52-1.74/kg (mean USD 1.63).However, the total volume traded per unit time and the frequency of shipments have both changed.Previously, one exporter shipped about 3-5 t of freshwater turtles 2-3 times per week (Shepherd, 2000), andin 2006 one exporter shipped about 1 t of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in one week. Furthermore, thecatch-per-unit-effort had decreased in 2006 as indicated by most collectors.

CONCLUSIONS

The Southeast Asian Box Turtle plays an undefined but likely important role in food chains of wetlandecosystems, and it serves as seed disperser. The temporary or permanent removal of the species from itsnatural habitats leads to an imbalance of the ecosystem structure, the significance of which and the wholerange of consequences currently cannot be determined.

The low reproductive rate of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in combination with continuous harvest forthe food and TCM trade which exceeds the allocated export quota and which focuses on large adults hasled to local over-exploitation. This cannot be outbalanced through captive breeding. Captive breeding ofthe Southeast Asian Box Turtle for commercial purposes is economically unfeasible. Its’ promotionappears to exacerbate illegal activity.

The adaptation of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle to man-made habitats makes it more accessible for harvest. The conservation of this and other species in so-called protected areas cannot be guaranteed, andno or only very few assurance populations of the species still exist in Indonesia, making the species evenmore susceptible to over-exploitation.

Populations around trade centres such as cities are already extinct. Despite being a commensal species, itis nowadays difficult to find a Southeast Asian Box Turtle in the wild near residential or agricultural areas.

Long-term studies that will provide comparative data are required to determine whether the SoutheastAsian Box Turtle is decreasing in mean size over time. Significant human disturbance such as commercialharvest represents a risk to box turtle populations and can easily be detrimental to the survival of thespecies.

Indonesia has sufficiently comprehensive legislation in place to govern the management of wildlife speciesin trade. Its legislation is much better than in many neighbouring countries, for example Malaysia.Unfortunately, the enforcement of these laws is very weak or lacking at all.

Volumes of illegally exported individuals appear to be at least 10-fold - probably 100-fold - the legal exportof 18 000 individuals. This excess of the legal export quota is detrimental to the survival of the species inIndonesia. The high export numbers are driven by the demand for the food and TCM markets in East Asia.


If export for the international pet trade was the only category of trade, it is believed that this could be managed sustainably. Furthermore, local utilization is negligible and poses no threat to the species. A total trade ban is not expected to solve the problem of illegal trade but illegal trade has to be eradicatedto allow sustainable management of this and other wildlife species.

Appendix II listed freshwater turtle species including the Southeast Asian Box Turtle may only be exported live from Indonesia. The export of dead animals, parts (carapace or plastron) or derivatives isillegal since the quota is only allotted to live individuals. Some members of the CITES ManagementAuthority especially at the provincial level are obviously not aware of this.

Export in parts and derivatives of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle from Indonesia has increased since thespecies was listed in CITES Appendix II. This seems to apply also to other Indonesian freshwater turtlespecies that have become CITES listed. Increased control of live shipments has led to an increased volume of illegally traded shells compared to live animals.

Many of the illegal shipments have forged CITES export permits. Enforcement officers are insufficientlytrained and/or do not check CITES permits thoroughly.

Illegal export of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle and other freshwater turtles from Indonesia is possiblebecause many shipments are not inspected, because many law enforcement officers do not know the conservation status of the different freshwater turtle species, and still cannot identify the different species,and because ports other than those designated for CITES-listed species are used by traders.

The main international destinations of illegal shipments of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle are Hong KongSAR, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia. The CITES Management Authorities of these countriesare willing to assist Indonesia in curbing illegal wildlife trade provided that the Indonesian CITES MAofficially seeks their assistance and shares intelligence on illegal wildlife trade.

Some exporters do not openly display all their stock in the warehouse. This easily leads to underestimation if abundance is based on visual inspection of openly displayed stocks. There is a highprobability that these exporters exceed their annual quota beyond the allowed limit and ship the surplusillegally.

None of the establishments that sold the Southeast Asian Box Turtle for local utilization in Indonesiaobtained the specimens from licensed collectors nor were these outlets licensed to sell.

The Indonesian CITES MA has a very detailed, complex and difficult-to-control licensing and permit system. Accordingly, permits at the lowest level, for example collection permits of collectors, and licencesfor local trade, are usually not inspected. Furthermore, holders of permits for harvest or capture do notreport on the stockpile of wild-caught specimens to the Heads of BKSDA on a monthly basis, neither dothe BKSDA offices feed back to the MA.

Annual CITES reports do not reflect the number of actually exported individuals but rather the numbersfor which SATS-LN permits were issued and which does not mean that the SATS-LN permits were usedfor actual exports, or that the numbers on the SATS-LN coincide with the actual numbers that were exported. Furthermore, Indonesia – like most other Parties - commonly exports specimens which fall under


the quota of the previous year, which contributes to export statistics that do not represent the actual harvestand export of the calendar year.

The quota setting in Indonesia is currently not science-based but driven by the demand from traders to supply importing countries especially those in East Asia where large volumes are consumed for food andtraditional medicines. The implementation of the current Indonesian quota system needs urgent remedialattention, both in the setting of quotas, the monitoring of harvest and trade, and the enforcement of regulations. Distribution of the national quota among provinces appears to be unrelated to local abundance,and neither to sustainability of harvest or trade. There is a link between the presence of a trader and thequota rather than between quota and local abundance of the species. Locations for harvest or capture arenot carefully selected based on biological and ecological assessments, but rather in accordance with thepreferred collection sites of the trader.

The fact that some freshwater turtle species fall under the jurisdiction of the PHKA while other are underthe management of the DKP has led to considerable confusion and weakness in law enforcement. As basisfor sustainable management of all traded wildlife species whether under PHKA or DKP, trade volumesshould be recorded on the species level.

The demand for the Southeast Asian Box Turtle and the other species under the same genus in the EastAsian consumer markets has not been reduced, but rather increased after the inclusion of all members ofthe genus Cuora in Appendix II of CITES.

An alternative interpretation is that the market demand for this and other turtle species has increased greatly in East Asia in the past decade [as evidenced by the great increase in supplies of farmed ChineseSoftshell (Pelodiscus sinensis) and Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), species which areesteemed lower in the East Asian trade], and CITES inclusion has helped trade management but has notcurbed trade volumes effectively enough.

The extent of exploitation observed at four middlemen in East Kalimantan and the trade volumes ofexporters in Sumatra give reason to conclude that the allocated annual harvest quota is easily exceeded.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• The Indonesian CITES MA should strictly monitor export volumes / quantities, and enforce theexisting prohibition of the export of turtle shells and other derivates.

• Quarantine, customs, police and PHKA personnel at air and seaports should put more efforts ininspecting shipments especially those with destinations in East Asian countries, and especially thosedeclared ‘fish’, ‘seafood’, ‘snake skin or meat’, and ‘Red-eared-sliders’. Law enforcement agencies shouldconsider giving incentives in the form of awards or leave credits to enforcement agents for seizures.

• Makassar, Medan, Pekanbaru, Tembilahan and Banjarmasin are the ports of exports with the highest frequency and the highest volumes of illegally traded Southeast Asian Box Turtles. Tembilahanand Banjarmasin are not even designated ports of exports for CITES-listed species thus all export of suchspecies from those ports is illegal. These ports and their shipments should receive special attention and bethoroughly and regularly inspected by BKSDA, police, customs, port authorities and quarantine officers.


• Instead of banning trade in the Southeast Asian Box Turtle which would only negatively affectlegal traders, activities should focus on eradicating illegal trade through stricter law enforcement on theIndonesian side and thorough control of CITES documents and origin of specimens on side of the importing countries. The cooperation with the CITES MA in China needs to be intensified to lower andfinally eradicate illegal trans-border trade. These kinds of focused activities would have greater chancesof success if formalised under the existing co-operation between China and the ASEAN WildlifeEnforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN).

• The Indonesian CITES MA should officially seek assistance from the CITES MA of Asian importing countries especially of Hong Kong SAR, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia. Indonesiashould share details on ports of export, frequency of shipments, methods in concealing illegal shipment etc.with the other CITES authorities, police, customs and quarantine. Being part of the ASEAN-WEN it isencouraged to set up a multi-agency task force.

• The Indonesian CITES MA should revise and simplify its licensing and permit system. From capture to export there should be less permits involved, and those that are required should be thoroughlyand regularly inspected and compared with the content of the shipment by the various law enforcement andcustoms agents. Particularly, the provincial quotas from across the country allocated to each individual pettrader are nonsense and should be rescinded.

• The Indonesia annual reports to the CITES Secretariat should reflect the actual number of exported specimens rather than the number for which permits were issued. This requires comparing permits issued at PHKA (CITES MA) with those used and filed at ports of exit (BKSDS).

• Continual training of enforcement officers in species identification, conservation status of the different species and outline of CITES permits and legal loopholes in the management of CITES AppendixII listed species should be conducted through the efforts of interagency co-operation involving the CITESauthorities, NGOs, and the academe.

• Skills to enforce the laws should be strengthened on all levels of all concerned agencies (PHKA,BKSDA, DKP, fish and animal quarantine, Customs, airport and seaport cargo personnel, police). Lack ofskills can easily be addressed through trainings, while the motivation and willingness to enforce needsencouragement from within the agencies concerned. Incentives in the form of awards, press-releases andleave credits should be considered as rewards for successful work of law enforcement officers.

• PHKA and DKP should work closely together in the management of CITES Appendix II-listed andlook-alike species. Awareness campaigns should not only be conducted to officers of all agencies involvedin trade (PHKA, BKSDA, quarantine, Customs, sea and airport cargo personnel etc.) but also to the public informing about rules and regulations, trade procedure, responsibility of the various offices. Asbasis for sustainable management of all traded wildlife species whether under PHKA or DKP, trade volumes should be recorded on the species level.

• The CITES Authorities should discourage captive breeding of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle andother freshwater turtles and tortoises with a similar low reproductive output for the large-scale consumption and TCM market.


• The establishment of assurance colonies should be considered by the Indonesian CITESAuthorities. These could be established at governmental or private rescue centres, zoological gardens, orareas that are effectively protected from harvesting and other human impacts.

• The CITES SA should seek assistance from local universities in conducting field studies to assess population sizes and composition in man-made versus natural habitats. Such analyses are needed for theproper management of the species. The method of such surveys/field studies could be patterned from themethodology used in the present study.

• In making non-detriment findings, the particular biology of tortoises and freshwater turtles shouldbe taken into consideration. The harvesting of wild adults should be limited and precautionary because theremoval of slow growing, mature animals may have significant impacts on the viability of the populationthat is targeted. Although it may generally be perceived as preferable to harvest small (juvenile) individuals, it was noted that unlike in tortoises, the offtake of juveniles in wild populations of freshwaterturtles is relatively easy, that the removal of certain age classes may negatively impact wild populations,and that in practice, all age classes are often harvested. Also, juveniles do not necessarily or readily meetthe demand for turtles and tortoises in the food and medicinal markets.

• In the absence of quantitative data on local populations of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle criteriathatmight indicate changes in the local abundance should be assessed and monitored to enable sustainabletrade.

• Indicators of change are (Schoppe, 2008a):1. If collection areas are getting increasingly further away from urban trade centres. 2. If catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) is decreasing.3. If threats other than trade are getting more severe.4. If the State/provincial/regional annual harvest quota is far from being realized.5. If harvest and export quotas are always realized (actual recorded volumes) to the maximum volume.6. If average size of individuals is reduced.7. If traded specimens are mainly adults.8. If the population structure of traded individuals is significantly in favour of one life history stage.9. If the sex ratio of any population is significantly different from 1:1 trends should be carefully monitored.

• In addition, potential indicators of illegal trade should be monitored:

• If collection of the species is a fulltime business for collectors/trappers the probability that thedemand for the species is higher than the national quota is relatively high.

• Sudden changes in the international market prices are usually indicators of illegal activity. Theprice paid to legal sources of the species by main importing countries decreases once an illegal shipmenthas arrived and undercut market prices.


• The suggested abundance indicators are relatively easy to obtain. Potential sources of informationare collectors, middlemen, suppliers, exporters, data from importing countries, the CITES Managementand Scientific Authorities in the country of export, published or unpublished reports, and grey literature.

• The above indicators should be assessed on an annual basis at the same time of the year and atthe same sites. Recommended are sites in trade centres such as Makassar, Medan, Pekanbaru, Tembilahanand Banjarmasin.

• Monitoring results should provide the basis for the establishment of provincial and national harvest and export quotas.


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Annex 1:Dates and localities when and where surveys on the Southeast Asian Box Turtle were conducted in Indonesia

Locality Date

Tra

de S

urve

y

Popu

latio

n or

H

arve

st S

urve

y

Har

vest

Impa

ct

Surv

ey

WEST JAVA March/April 06

Jakarta

Reptile traders March-06 X

Pet Markets 7 March 06, 21 April 06 X

Pet Shops Twice in March, once in April and June 06

X

Tangerang March-06 X

Bekasi March-06 X

Depok March-06 X

Parung March-06 X

Cibinong March-06 X

Bogor March-06 X

Cikananga March-06 X

SOUTH SULAWESI 10-17 May 06

Makassar X

Traders X

Fish and pet markets May-06 X

Fish and aquarium shops May-06 X

Barru X

Pare Pare X

Makale X

Palopo X

Masamba X X

Sengkang X

Watansoppeng X

Maros XSOUTHEAST SULAWESI 27 April to 10 June 06

Taman National Rawa AopaWatomohai

29 April to 10 June 06 X

NORTH SUMATRA May-06

Belawan 24 May-06 X

Medan 18-24 May 06


Locality Date

Tra

de S

urve

y

Popu

latio

n or

H

arve

st S

urve

y

Har

vest

Impa

ct

Surv

ey

Pet and bird markets 19 & 20 May 06 X

Aquarium and pet shops 19 & 20 May 06 X

Reptile traders 19 & 20 May 06 X

Binjai X

Tanjung Merawan X

Indrapura X

Tanjung Balai X

Rantauprapat X

RIAU 3-14 June 06 X X

Pekanbaru

Pet, bird and fish markets X

Aquarium and pet shops X

Reptile traders X

Kerinci X X

Sorek X X

Ukui X X

Lilik X X

Airmolek X X

Tembilahan X X

Belantaraya X

SOUTH SUMATRA 31 May – 2 June 06

Palembang

Reptile traders X

Wet markets X

WEST KALIMANTAN 6-9 July 06

Pontianak X

Reptile traders X


EAST KALIMANTAN 20 June to 5 August 06

Balikpapan 20, 21, 27 & 28 June 06 X

Kutai Kartanegara 24 June to 5 August 06 X

Annex 1 (continued) :Dates and localities when and where surveys on the Southeast Asian Box Turtle were conducted in Indonesia

1. Siran, Sungai Siran, Muara Calong2. Kampung Baru, Sungai Mahakam3. Muara Wis, Sungai Mahakam4. Muara Pahu, Sungai Mahakam5. Muhuran, Sungai Belayan6. Sebelimbingan, Sungai Belayan7. Telu Muda, Sungai Belayan8. Tuana Tua, Sungai Belayan9. Mangkuliding, Sungai Kedang Rantau10. Senambah, Sungai Kedang Rantau11. Ngayan, Sungai Kedang Rantau12. Kelingan, Sungai Muara Calong13. Senyor, Sungai Muara Calong14. Kampung Baru, Sungai Muara Calong15. Benua Puhun, Sungai Mahakam.


Locality Date

Tra

de S

urve

y

Popu

latio

n or

H

arve

st S

urve

y

SOUTH KALIMANTAN 29-30 June, 3-6 July 06

Banjarmasin 30 June, July 4 & 6, 06 X

Reptile traders X


Banjarbaru X

CENTRAL KALIMANTAN 1-2 July 06

Palangkaraya X

Annex 1 (continued):Dates and localities when and where surveys on the Southeast Asian Box Turtle were conducted in Indonesia

Annex 2:

River systems covered by collectors who supply middleman ‘A’ in Kedang Murung, Kota Bangun


Annex 3:

Designated ports of entry and exit for CITES Appendix II-listed species

No. Name of port Location

1 Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Jakarta

2 Juanda Airport Surabaya

3 Polonia Airport Medan

4 Hang Nadim Airport Batam

5 Supadio Airport Pontianak

6 Hasanudin Airport Ujung Pandang/Makassar

7 Ngurah-Rai International Airport Denpasar

8 Adi Sucipto Airport Yogyakarta

9 Pattimura Airport Ambon

10 Frans Kaiseipo Airport Biak

11 Sentani Airport Jayapura

12 Simpang Tiga Airport Pekanbaru

13 Sam Ratulangi Airport Manado

14 Tanjung Priok Seaport Jakarta

15 Tanjung Perak Seaport Surabaya

16 Tanjung Mas Seaport Semarang

17 Belawan Seaport Medan

18 Ujung Pandang Seaport Ujung Pandang/Makassar

19 Adisumarno Airport Solo

20 Sepingan Airport Balikpapan

21 Jetty IP Seaport Batam

Febr

uary

200

9

TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, works toensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threatto the conservation of nature. It has offices covering mostparts of the world and works in close co-operation with theSecretariat of the Convention on International Trade inEndangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

For further information contact:

The DirectorTRAFFIC Southeast AsiaUnit 9-3A, 3rd FloorJalan SS23/11, Taman SEAPetaling Jaya, SelangorMalaysiaTelephone: (603) 7880 3940Fax: (603) 7882 0171Email: [email protected]

The Executive DirectorTRAFFIC International219a Huntingdon RoadCambridge CB3 0DLUnited KingdomTelephone: (44) 1223 277427Fax: (44) 1223 277237Email: [email protected]

Documents

Status, trade dynamics and management of the …assets.panda.org/downloads/traffic_species_reptiles19.pdf · Status,trade dynamics and management of the Southeast ... Status,trade